YOU HAVE THE MESSAGE OF ETERNAL LIFE

 XXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - John 6:60-69

In this Sunday’s liturgy, the first reading is taken from Joshua 24:1-2,15-18. At the end of his life, Joshua, the great leader after Moses, called upon the leaders to come together and make a clear and public decision. They must choose the way forward: are they going to accept and serve the Lord or do they prefer to worship the gods of the nations among whom they are living? Joshua doesn’t want to impose on people a fundamental decision that must be taken by themselves. He puts forward the example of his own family who have accepted his proposal: “As for me and my House, we will serve the Lord.”

The leaders of the people were quick to answer: “We have no intention of deserting the Lord and serving other gods! (…) We too will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

We know that time and again, the people would go back on that public and solemn declaration of intentions. They would allow themselves to be seduced by the customs, traditions and culture of the nations nearby. It is as if they cancelled their history, thus banning God from their lives, not only individually but also at the national level. That’s why, at different times in their history, the people will be called to renew their commitment to serve the true God. It seems that people were continuously playing a game of seek and hide. And in these times of ours, we are no better than they were. We refuse to make a public commitment to God. We have rejected Him and built our society without Him. That’s why we are solemnly called to renew our attitude of service, proclaiming that God is our Lord and that we are ready to serve and worship him.

This Sunday’s gospel tells us that people rejected Jesus’ words on the bread of life and many disciples stopped following him. Yet, Jesus did not adapt his speech to suit his audience. He was never a populist who looked for applause. Before Jesus, we have to decide what to do with our lives: are we ready to accept and follow him or do we turn our backs on him? Jesus gives us the freedom to choose what to do with our lives. He asked the disciples what he asks all of us: “What about you, do you want to go away too?” Peter made the same choice that was done by Joshua: “Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Peter’s answer is a profession of faith which must be the profession of faith of the Church. Jesus is the Holy One and in Him alone, we can find eternal life.