TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME B

[cappie]

St John tells us, in today's Gospel passage, that our Lord's teaching about the Eucharist, which we have been following over the last few Sundays, was so difficult, that "many of his disciples" simply refused to accept it. As a result, they stopped following Jesus and returned to their former way of life.

 It was a moment of crisis. The Twelve didn't understand, rationally speaking, this teaching any more completely than everybody else.

So why did they continue to follow the Lord? Because they trusted in him, in his person. They put more faith in the person of Jesus Christ, the Lord, than in their own limited ability to understand God. By consciously exercising their faith in the midst of that crisis, and not just depending on their own limited, understanding, they lifted their spiritual maturity to a whole new level.

We tend to think of difficulties, injustices, struggles, and suffering as the usual challenges to our faith. But sometimes success and prosperity can be equally challenging.

That's what happened to Joshua and the people of Israel in today's First Reading. This passage from the Book of Joshua is part of what is known as the Pact of Shechem. Shechem was centrally located in Palestine, and therefore a good meeting place for the different tribes. It also had religious significance. Abraham had built an altar there, and Jacob had bought land there and buried some left-over Mesopotamian idols there.

When Joshua called the tribes together at Shechem, therefore, it was an important event. It took place at the end of Joshua's long and successful career as Israel's leader. Joshua had taken over after the death of Moses, leading the people into the Promised Land and then masterminding their conquest of that land. Under his rule, Israel had experienced political, economic, and cultural prosperity and success.

And yet, as he feels death coming on, Joshua considers it necessary to call a gathering of all the tribes. And at that gathering he challenges them to consciously renew their commitment to God. He knows that prosperity can breed arrogance and laziness. He knows that the idol worship of the nations they had conquered, the nations they now inhabit, was still seductive. He recognizes that if the Israelites are going to keep their faith alive and strong in this new chapter of their history, they need to make a firm, conscious renewal of their most deeply held convictions.

In our lives too, when all is going well and smoothly, we need to make our own pact of Shechem, reaffirming our commitment to serve Christ, not just to seek success and comfort.

 When faith grows in the heart of a Christian, a lot of other virtues start growing too: wisdom, courage, humility, hope, and Christ-like love.

If we want to grow in these virtues, our faith has to become more conscious, more mature.

But how can we help that to happen?

The same way that Peter and the other Apostles did. This moment of crisis occurred after they had been living and travelling with Jesus for two years. During that time they had gotten to know Jesus in a personal way. The Lord was not distant or abstract; the Lord was their companion, leader, and friend; they had a personal relationship with him. And so, when the moment of crisis came, the moment in which their faith was challenged, they were ready to respond.  Even when they couldn't see the whole picture themselves, they believed that Jesus could, and they knew that Jesus, the good shepherd, the "Holy One of God," would guide them well.

 The conclusion of the Bread of Life discourse focuses on personal faith in the life of Christian discipleship. Each person must make his or her own judgment about who Jesus is and in doing so determine the way of life that he or she will follow. God’s grace invites us to be Jesus’ disciples, but each person must respond to the grace of God and confess as his or her own the belief that Jesus is the one from God. This faith then commits us to the path of life, leading us to eternal life.