August 26, 2018

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time B Joshua 24: 1-2, 15-18; Ephesians 5: 21-32; John 6: 60-69 Do I ever feel that being a Catholic Christian is difficult? Is it harder to be a Christian or a Catholic? Do I regard the Catholic part of it as one that has a whole bunch of rules? Do I find the ‘rules’ on the Catholic side harder than the ‘commands’ on the Christian side? We probably have never looked at it this way, but it is an interesting exercise in sorting out our beliefs. It is also good for us to ask these questions: Who is God? What difference does God make in my life? What might by life be like without my belief in God? Do I really want to have God in my life? Or only when it is convenient? The readings today provide thought provoking examples of how our ancestors in faith responded to being challenged about who is God and what it means to serve God. Moses brought the Israelites to the border of the Promised Land. There he died. Joshua had been chosen by God to be Moses’ successor and he would lead the people into the Holy Land. Right off the bat, Joshua was lacking in confidence. God had to assure him: “As I promised Moses, I will deliver to you every place where you set foot..No one can withstand you while you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be firm and steadfast…taking care to observe the entire law which my servant Moses enjoined on you. Do not swerve from it either to the right to the left…Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.” God, as always, kept His word. In this reading God is calling Joshua ‘my servant’ the same exalted title He gave Moses. The scene is very dramatic All the elders, officers and people stand in ranks before God. Joshua assembled them to give his final instruction before he dies. It seems that Joshua is giving them the opportunity to choose whether to serve God or one of the local deities. In reality, there is no choice. The following verses make it perfectly clear that the Lord alone is their God. Joshua boldly proclaims that he and his family will serve the Lord. The people totally agree: “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord for the service of other gods..we will serve the Lord, for He is our God.” Joshua challenges the people even more and they affirm their devotion and faith. We come to often maligned passage of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Probably most parishes only read the ‘short form’ and leave out the phrase, “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, He Himself the savior of the body As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.” In the Greco-Roman world, society was classified and ranked according to status (free or slave) citizenship (Roman, Egyptian etc) and gender. Going back to Aristotle, the well-being of the state had its origin in the good order of the household. As a result rules governed households. Ephesians today gives us an example of a household code, which limited the leadership and behavior of women and slaves. A VERY IMPORTANT POINT to remember is that the earliest Christians expected an immediate return of Jesus (parousia) so they did not address social issues. Paul is saying that the Church is the Body of Christ. It is the manifestation of God’s wisdom and thus is holy. Like Colossians (3:18-19) which shows that a well ordered house is where the husbands are reminded to love their wives in a relationship like that between Christ and the Church. This development describes the wife’s relationship to her husband as that of the church and Christ. IT HAS NOTHING to do with wives being subject to their husbands, or putting up with them when there are abusive. New Testament scholar, Pheme Perkins describes it this way, “You can see from this description of love that abusive behavior of any sort does not belong in a Christian marriage. On another level, you can also see that the holiness of the church is not something that its human members create on their own. The holiness of the church comes from the sacrifice and love of Christ.” So husbands and wives belong to the body of Christ and thus should nourish be devoted to each other as Christ nourishes and is devoted to the church. The Gospel concludes Jesus’ Bread of Life sermon. The disciples and those listening had a real hard time understanding this because many took Jesus’ words literally. They find Jesus’ words too hard and leave. They murmur, disbelieve, reject and go home because they could not comprehend this kind of intimacy with God. John shares how Peter had a real problem. He had just heard Jesus say things that he doesn’t understand and the little that he does understand he can’t really accept. All of us have been in this situation. We just don’t understand. How can God possibly love me when I don’t even love myself? God loves! How can God love people when they do evil and horrible things? God loves! It all boils down to our own reaction of how God can love everyone, even or especially those that I can’t love? We just have a problem with the intimacy of God: God just plain loves me and you and everyone totally, all the time, without exception. Jesus is calling out the best, all the time, in you and me. At the Last Supper, Jesus commanded, Do this in memory of Me. Unfortunately we do not realize Jesus is calling us out — to do more — our whole life. Doing what? Homily Helps states “Healing, forgiving, including outsiders, challenging wrongful authority, taking time to go away and pray, serving others by washing feet— so that it is we who are blessed and broken open so that we can give and share ourselves to defend the world. Jesus waits for us to grasp the power He left within us. When we act in loving ways we are using that power, the power of the Holy Spirit.” Joshua posed the problem: DECIDE TODAY. Jesus continued DO YOU ALSO WANT TO LEAVE? Living the Word concludes, “Lord Jesus, You have words that are food for my soul. You call me to become more than I could be without You. Refresh the presence of Your Holy Spirit within me. Feed me with Your very self. Help me respond with the Israelites and with Peter: You are my God, I will serve You, for You have the words of eternal life.” I reflect on: • When have the words and ways of Jesus affirmed me? How have they challenged me? • How has a spousal relationship or a deep friendship stretched me? How has it limited me? • “Do you also want to leave?” Ask in prayer with Peter, “To whom shall I go?’” • The one who believes already possesses ‘eternal life.’ Think in prayer about how faith leads me to a fullness of life. Sacred Space 2018 states “The disciples understood that, no matter how confusing or troubling it might be to follow Jesus, there was no place else to go. When we hear the truth and know it is the truth, that narrows down all other choices, doesn’t it? Lord, there are days when I waver; I flirt with the idea of going someplace else, of forgetting about being Your disciple. Maybe I’m weary, or maybe I’m revising some part of your message. May Your Holy Spirit remind me that You have the words of life, and that is enough.”