You Have the Words of Everlasting Life
Introduction: May you continue to experience GOD’s love and may it cause you to love others with the same love.
As we reflect on the love of GOD – GOD’s love for us – we realize the decision GOD made to allow us to have that love. It was a costly decision – it cost Jesus His human life. Yet Jesus and His Abba-Father freely choose to love us to that extent. The fullness of the decision of love can only be realized in GOD. Yet, GOD allows us to accept that divine Love Incarnate and share it with others. One of the best examples of that Love is in the relationship between husband and wife. GOD also allows us to receive Love Incarnate when we come to Jesus and receive Him as the Bread of Life and the source of words of eternal life. How great our GOD is that we are given signs - sacraments - reminders of GOD’s great love.
Today
we are reminded that once we have tasted, and been fed by, the Lord Jesus, we are
expected to respond appropriately. Our First Reading describes the response of the
Israelites after their Exodus from Egypt, their being fed on the journey for forty
years, and now they are being allowed to take possession of the Promised Land. The
Responsorial Psalm reminds us that once we have accepted the LORD’s invitation to
come and taste GOD’s goodness, we must respond by giving praise and glory to GOD.
St. Paul reminds the faithful of Ephesus that their family life should be a mysterion
or sacramentum of the love that Jesus has for the Church and
the Church has for Jesus. In the Gospel, after Jesus has offered Himself as the
Bread of Life, He allows those who cannot accept Him and His teaching to leave and
He checks on the response of His closest disciples to see how they will respond.
First
Reading Joshua 24:1-2,15-18: We will serve the Lord, for he is our God
Commentary:
This
final chapter of the Book of Joshua shows Israel settled into the ‘land flowing
with milk and honey’, having concluded the great trek of the Exodus. At Shechem,
they held a great assembly of all the tribes, and renewed the covenant, with promises
of loyalty to the Lord. The renewal of the covenant was necessary because in the
course of their desert wandering a number of various tribes had joined Moses’ original
group of escaped slaves, and not all of them had been present at the original covenant.
This scene at Shechem is put in parallel to today’s gospel reading because Joshua
challenged them to make up their minds whether or not they intended to remain loyal
to the Lord, in the same way as Jesus challenges the disciples at the end of the
Bread of Life discourse. The similarity is not only a challenge to loyalty, but
specifically to covenant loyalty, since the Eucharistic context of the discourse
puts the failure of some of the disciples and the acceptance by Peter and the others
into the context of refusing or accepting the New Covenant made by Jesus at the
Last Supper.
Responsorial
Psalm 34:2-3,16-23: Taste and see that the Lord is good.
In Psalm
34 we are invited to come, taste, and see the Goodness of the Lord. Part of that
process of experiencing the Goodness of the LORD is to realize that GOD is the giver
of all that is good, and the LORD is the source even of our faith relationship.
We only react and respond to GOD’s benevolence. Even our ability to reply is a gift
from GOD. The more we respond, then the more GOD blesses us and provides for us,
even as we face trying times.
Second
Reading Ephesians 5:21-32: Christ loves the Church because it is his body
Commentary:
The
idea that husbands should be subject to their wives, as well as wives to their husbands,
was revolutionary in the patriarchal society of the first century; but it is a consequence
of the teaching that every human being has infinite dignity as made in the image
of God. Another really enriching teaching, however, is that the devotion and self-sacrifice
of husband for wife is seen as a parable for the love of Christ for his spouse,
the Church. The love and devotion of spouses for each other – and it works both
ways – gains greater dignity from this Christological truth. It is designated as
a ‘mystery’, which in Pauline's language does not mean ‘something I can’t understand’.
It means the great profound truths about God which are to be finally revealed in
these, the last times. In this case, the ‘mystery’ is the depths and intensity of
Christ’s love for his Church, of which the love of spouses for each other is only
an echo. The bonding and binding love and self-sacrifice of spouses echoes and reveals
Christ’s love for the Church. From this comparison, we gain understanding and awe
for both members of the comparison. It also nicely sums up the repeated message
of Ephesians about unity in the Church.
Gospel
John 6:60-69: Who shall we go to? You are the Holy One of God
Commentary:
Throughout
the Gospel of John a great division is taking place between those who accept Jesus
as the Messiah, the Wisdom of God, the Light of the world, the Good Shepherd, the
King of the Jews, the Lamb of God, and those who do not accept. The marriage feast
at Cana, where the disciples believe and see the glory of Jesus, is immediately
followed by the rejection by the custodians of the Temple. Then Nicodemus comes
by night and tentatively approaches the light, while the Samaritan joyfully accepts
him and announces him to her fellow townsfolk. Later in the Gospel, we will see
the stark division growing ever stronger between the sick man at the Pool of Bethzatha
and the Man born Blind on the one hand and the Pharisees on the other. Finally,
the gentile Pilate declares Jesus to be king, while the Jewish authorities reject
any king but Caesar.
Now, as the
conclusion of the revelation of Jesus as the Wisdom of the Father and the Bread
of Life, comes the sad moment of the division between the disciples, when some find
the message too fierce and walk away, while Peter in the name of the faithful disciples
makes his moving and loving act of faith, ‘you have the words of eternal life’.
It is the same profession of faith as Peter in the synoptic gospels makes at Caesarea
Philippi, but directly in terms of the Johannine gift, eternal life.
In all this,
the choice is being put before us too: how deep is our faith, how firm is our commitment?
It is the ultimate choice in life; there is no sitting on the fence. And the choice
must be renewed from day to day.
Reflection:
Why
do some find it easier while others find it harder to accept the claims that Jesus
made? Many were attracted to Jesus because he offered them something irresistible
- a visible sign of God's mercy and favor which Jesus demonstrated in his wonderful
works of healing, deliverance, and miraculous signs, including the multiplication
of the loaves and fish when he fed the five thousand who had gathered to hear him
speak. Many stumbled, however, when Jesus made claims that only God can make. Jesus'
discourse on "eating his flesh and drinking his blood" (see John 6:51-59)
which pointed to the Last Supper, offended many of his followers.
The
blessing of full union with God through Christ: Jesus claimed
to be the bread of heaven, the very life of God given to us as spiritual food to
sustain us on our journey to our promised homeland with the Father in heaven. Jesus
did not leave any middle ground for his hearers. They must either accept his word
as divine or reject it as the claim of an imposter. Even the apostles admitted that
this was a "hard saying". This expression meant that it was not just hard
to understand, but hard to accept. Jesus pressed the issue with his beloved disciples
because he wanted to test their faith and loyalty to him as the Holy One sent from
the Father in heaven. Jesus promised his disciples nothing less than the full blessing
of eternal life and union with God. Jesus assures his disciples that it is his heavenly
Father who gives the invitation and the grace to believe and follow even in the
"hard sayings". Jesus knew that some would not only reject him and his
word, but would do so with violence fueled by hatred, envy, and even betrayal by
one of his own disciples.
"My
words are spirit and life": Jesus told his disciples that his words
were "spirit and life" (John 6:63) - his words came from the heavenly
Father who is the Author of life and the One who breathes his Spirit into those
who believe in him. Through the gift of faith Peter was able to receive spiritual
revelation of who Jesus truly is - the Holy One of God, the eternal Son sent from
the Father in heaven to redeem a fallen human race and reconcile them with God.
Faith
is a gift and a personal response to God's revelation of himself: How does God
help us grow in faith and trust in his word, even the hard sayings that are difficult
to understand? Faith is a gift that God freely gives to those who listen to his
word and who put their trust in him. Faith is a personal response to God's revelation
of himself. Faith is neither blind nor ignorant. It is based on the truth and reliability
of God's word. True faith seeks understanding. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430
AD) said, "I believe in order to understand, and I understand the better to
believe." The Lord Jesus offers all of his followers his life-giving word and
Spirit to help us grow in our knowledge and understanding of God.
We
can know God personally through his word:
Paul
the Apostle tells us that it is the work of the Holy Spirit who enlightens the eyes
of our hearts and minds to understand the truth and wisdom that comes from God (Ephesians
1:17-18). Faith is the key to understanding and experiencing God's actions and work
in our personal lives. Paul the Apostle tells us that "God's love has been
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us"
(Romans 5:5). We can know God personally, and we grow in recognizing his voice as
we listen to his word and obey his instruction. Do you believe, as Peter did, that
Jesus has the words of everlasting life and the power to change and transform your
life? Ask the Lord Jesus to increase your faith that you may grow in knowing, loving,
and serving him as your Lord and Redeemer, Teacher and Healer, Master and Savior.
Lord Jesus,
you have the words of everlasting life. Help me to cast aside all doubt and fear
so that I may freely embrace your word with complete trust and joy. I surrender
all to you. Be the Lord of my life and the Ruler of my heart. May there be nothing
that hinders me from trusting in your love and following your will?
Daily
Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Eat Life - Drink Life, by Augustine of Hippo,
354-430 A.D.: "'Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you shall not have
life in you,' says the Lord. Eat life - drink life. You will then have life, and
life is complete. Then the Body and Blood of Christ will be life for each person
under this condition: what is eaten visibly in the Sacrament be spiritually eaten
and spiritually drunk in truth itself." (excerpt from Sermon 102,2)
His
eucharistic challenge: “Jesus was fully aware that His disciples were
murmuring in protest at what He had said. ‘Does it shake your faith?’ He asked them.”
—John 6:61
Jesus challenges
us to believe His mysterious statement: “The bread I will give is My flesh, for
the life of the world” (Jn 6:51). A typical reaction to this challenge is to ask
the question: “How can He give us His flesh to eat?” (Jn 6:52) Jesus does not directly
answer this question. Rather, He extends an even more puzzling challenge by repeatedly
insisting that we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood (Jn 6:53-58). If we do this,
He will raise us from the dead (Jn 6:53-54), live in us and we in Him (Jn 6:56),
and give us life forever (Jn 6:58). If we do not eat His Body and drink His Blood,
we “have no life in” us (Jn 6:53).
Then “many
of His disciples remarked, ‘This sort of talk is hard to endure! How can anyone
take it seriously?’ ” (Jn 6:60) “From this time on, many of His disciples broke
away and would not remain in His company any longer” (Jn 6:66). Nevertheless, Jesus
continues to insist that we believe in and receive His Body and Blood.
Joshua challenged
the people: “Decide today whom you will serve” (Jos 24:15). Jesus, the new Joshua
(Jeshua), also challenges us to decide today about living to receive His Body and
Blood. Will we receive Him in repentance, joy, and love? Will we receive Holy Communion
as often as possible and center our lives on the Eucharist? Jesus is challenging
us. Our actions will speak louder than our words. Will we accept Jesus’ challenge?
Prayer:
Father,
grant me the grace to come to the Eucharistic Jesus (see Jn 6:65). Promise: “Defer
to one another out of reverence for Christ.” —Eph 5:21. Praise: Praise You, risen
Lord Jesus. You are holy and all your ways are true (see Tb 3:2).
The personal
action for today: How have I experienced the Goodness of
the Lord Jesus and what have I done to “sacramentalize” (be a holy sign of) that
Goodness for others? Can people sense the Goodness of the LORD by the way I treat
them? What can I do better so that particularly my family members can taste and
see the Goodness of the LORD? What does the following mean to me: “Life is not a
problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived?” How does that relate to my living
out the faith, hope, and love that GOD has given to me?