Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel reading concludes the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse which we have been reflecting on the last few weeks. The discourse ends tragically and yet hopefully. Some of his followers left Jesus’ company after Jesus’ discourse. At this, Jesus came to his inner circle of disciples and asked them, “Do you also want to leave?” (Jn 6:67) What happens next is one of the most emotional yet poignant expressions of faith, which thankfully, has been preserved for people like us. Peter says to Jesus, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (Jn 6:68).
In this homily I would like to take Peter’s response and make it our own. If we had to affirm our faith in Christ in Peter’s words, what could it mean?
1. The Temptation to Subtle Infidelity. In the first reading, Joshua puts a choice before the people of Israel who have entered the Promised Land. During the course of their journey through the desert, they had proven to be rather flaky in commitment to the Covenant they had made with God. Now as they prepare to enter their new homeland, would they be inclined to worship the new gods of the surrounding cultures? Joshua invites them to make a conscious decision. In the gospel reading, Jesus offers a similar choice to the disciples when he says, “Do you also want to leave?” Today, our challenge is not as much whether we worship other gods or whether we abandon Jesus. None of us are idolaters. For us the challenge is more subtle. It is often that God has to compete for attention in our lives. God is displaced in very subtle ways. The emphasis we place on our ego, the role wealth can play in our life, the primacy of sports, technology and recreation over family needs and faith, letting our dignity emerge from what we own rather than who we are, and sometimes deliberately not fashioning our lives by God’s word, we can fall into the same temptation that the people of Israel did. I agree that we are Christians and that we worship only one God. But we must always guard against the possibility that Christ is displaced from the center of our lives.
2. Faith is a Decision. Perhaps we have often heard the phrase, “Love is a decision.” I think the phrase means a commitment two people make to another even though they have no idea what the future will look like. Marriage is an act of faith. Love is a decision. Similarly, faith is a decision. Faith is the unconditional conviction about God involvement in our lives immaterial of where it may lead us. In the first reading, Joshua triggers this kind of faith. “As for me and my household,” he says, “we will serve the Lord.” Joshua had no idea what the new life will look like. Yet he strikes a covenantal bond to let God be the God of his household. This conviction is repeated by Peter in today’s gospel reading. Many people made a choice to abandon Jesus. But Peter makes a decision. He had no idea where following Christ would take him, but he had reached the point of unconditional conviction. “Master to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, we have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Perhaps, today we can reflect on our own faith conviction. I invite you to reflect this week on how faith has played out in the past, the role in plays in today and what we want it to look like in the future.
3. Faith is more than Personal Decision. On the one hand, faith is a personal decision. On the other hand, personal is more than a personal decision. All the readings today are about the faith conviction of a community. Peter was speaking for the twelve. Joshua was speaking for his household. The second reading talks about the home. Paul’s reflection on the relationship between a husband and wife (even though conditioned by the social structure of his time) is very relevant even today. Faith if it merely remains a personal conviction, then it falls short of its purpose. Faith must show itself in action; the action being the imitation of Christ. The most primary place where faith must be acted out is the home. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loves the Church.” If Paul was writing today, he would have said, “Husbands and wives, love each other as Christ loved the Church.”
Fr. Fr. Satish Joseph