25 August 2024

25 August 2024 - 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Transcript

Reading:  

John 6:66, 68, 69

Write:  

As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. [Pause]

Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Reflect:   

It is interesting that the first verse I quoted is John chapter six, verse sixty-six. Isn’t that the number that is supposedly described as the devil’s number? Six hundred and sixty-six! Well, you also have to remember that chapters and verses were not assigned to the Bible until a couple of hundred years after the Bible was written. Be that as it may, it is curious isn’t it that because of what Jesus said about eating his body and drinking his blood they walked away. What about those today who walk away because they cannot tolerate the idea of God being present to us in such a way?

Enough on that.

I want to focus mainly on Peter’s response. Especially the first part: “Master, to whom shall we go?” This is another part of my personal story. Remember: I have mentioned before every one of us has our own stories that we need to have ready to tell others about. This was the verse that was very influential in keeping me in the Catholic Church. When I first came back to the faith after a couple of years in the Army, what brought me back to faith was contact with some very fundamentalist Christians. But even at that time in my life, I knew that there was something missing because of their approach to the Bible. They said they took the Bible literally, but when it came to the question of Jesus saying we must eat his flesh and drink his blood, they backed away from such a literal interpretation.

I remembered what I was taught at Gross High regarding the Eucharist. And with all the push for reading the Bible literally from these fundamentalists, I could not understand why they would not approach the Eucharist in such a literal way when Jesus was so specific. Then, reading the verse of St. Peter’s response, I was left with only one course of action. Did Jesus mean what he said – not just regarding the Eucharist, but also regarding the church? And both scenes that came to my mind involved Peter. Jesus’ comment to Peter about being the rock and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it – meaning the church – and then Peter’s comment from today’s gospel left me with only one choice: the Catholic Church is where I needed to stay. And I came to this position yearsbefore I considered becoming a priest.

It is a tragedy that there has been such fragmentation of Christianity – and over something as simple, and glorious as what Jesus said about the Eucharist. How can we back away from what Jesus has done in giving us himself? How can we say his promises are meaningless? To me, there are four great promises from Jesus:

·      Jesus promised us he would be with us until the end of time.

·      Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.

·      Jesus promised himself to us – body and blood, soul and divinity – in the Eucharist.

·      Jesus promised that he would return for us at the end of time.

Three out of four are ongoing and have not failed us since the time of Christ. The fourth one? Is he going to fail on that? I don’t think so.

St. Peter continued with “We have come to believe and are convinced that you [, Jesus,] are the Holy One of God.” He is our Hope and Strength. He is our all. Amen.

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