You and I are stewards of an amazing Gospel message.. God's love for us is not too good to be true.

 

Twenty First Sunday in OT B 2021

In today’s first Scripture reading, Joshua was asking for a decision from the Israelites: “Decide today whom you will serve?”   Joshua goes on to affirm: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

In today’s Gospel, many of the disciples have abandoned ship and returned to their former way of life.  Plain and simple, the demands of discipleship were more than they bargained for.  According to the evangelist John, many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said: “This saying is hard:  who can accept it?” Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”  Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

 

 If you were there at the time would you be one of the many disciples who returned to his/her former way of life or one that stayed with Jesus? Is there any middle ground here?

 Just as Jesus’ question, “Do you want to leave?” was a moment of crisis for some of the disciples, so has been the pandemic a moment of crisis or decision making for us.

At that time “many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Jesus decides to question the apostles. Jesus then said to the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’ Make a decision.

A moment of crisis is a moment of choice; it is a moment that puts us in front of the decisions we have to make.

Peter’s response with a confession of faith is an example of faith and trust amid a crisis. Peter responded: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

This helps all of us to live through moments of crisis. This pandemic is also a time of social crisis.

This is not the time to make changes. It is a moment of fidelity, of fidelity to God, fidelity to the decisions we have made before. Also, it is a moment of conversion because this fidelity will inspire some of us to change for the better. In times of crisis, be very firm in the conviction of faith.

What about our commitment to our discipleship of the Lord Jesus?  Are we able to get in the lane of discipleship and stay in the lane -- come what may?  This is the commitment question the Scriptures are inviting us to reflect upon.

It wasn’t just first century disciples who grumbled, questioned difficult teachings, and chose not to follow Jesus.  People today wonder if the Gospel has anything of value to say to their life situation or to the human condition.

 

In the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal, has our trust in the spiritual leaders of our Church derailed our trust and our participation in the life of the Church?  AS we deal with the pandemic crisis that has turned our lives upside down, are we now having trouble finding our spiritual footing?  AS more and more people question the rituals and practices of the institutional Church, can we stay in the lane of God’s unending love for us?   Now is not the time to hide.  We need to be honest, to be forthright, to be seen and to come before the light of Christ.

We live in challenging times.  Today’s seeker is bombarded by a myriad of competing claims about where to go and whom to follow.  Deciding what course is not a simple task.  There are too many scandals with spiritual and government leaders.   Sexual morality seems to be up for grabs, our mounting national debt, our escalating environmental questions, the tragic conflict in Afghanistan, ongoing poverty both locally and globally make us want to throw up our hands and cry “uncle.”

In out discipleship of the Lord Jesus, can we say with conviction that Jesus is the North Star of our lives?  It is one thing to be born a Catholic; it is another to choose to remain one.  To be born a Christian could be an accident.  To decide to remain one is a decision.

I entered the seminary at age 14 on my journey to the priesthood 65 years ago, my level of commitment as a 14-year-old has evolved over the years in the joys and the challenges and the struggles in my priestly life and ministry.  Yes, I have been disillusioned by the institutional church; yes, I have seen spiritual leaders in the Church that haven’t walked their talk at times; yes, I am concerned by the declining number of candidates for the priesthood; yes, I can’t say that I am enthusiastic about all the human canonical regulations of our Church.  So, you can ask, why do I stay a priest?

 

I take the apostle Peter in today’s Gospel as my model. In the words of Peter, “Lord, where else would we go?  You have the words of eternal life. I have been and will continue to be a generous recipient of God’s unending love for me.  Jesus has been and will continue to be the North Star of my life.

I am in the lane of being a disciple of Jesus and witnessing to God’s love in the midst of our flawed Church.  Yes, we are flawed.  But we are also loved and forgiven by the unending love of Jesus for us.

You and I are stewards of an amazing Gospel message.  God’s love for us is not too good to be true.  God is faithful in His love for us in all experiences of life.  We are still called to live and share this commitment to faithfulness.

My question for you in your journey of faith has there come that time for you to say that there is no turning back, that Jesus is indeed the way, the truth, and the life, and that we are called to follow Him no matter the course or length or difficulty of the journey.  Oh, sure, there may still be times of doubt or darkness, or dismay and difficulty, but the course is clear; there is no other choice about whom we will follow.  Even in the suffering we experience in life, can we stay in the lane of trusting in God’s unending love for us?

We ask ourselves what are the important commitments of our life?   What is our commitment to God?  How does our discipleship of the Lord Jesus shape the way we live our lives?

What is your commitment level to your family? 

What is your level of commitment to the faith community of St Joseph’s?  Are we a parish community that fosters the development of soul friends that are life giving to our spirit and to our faith life?  As a parishioner, are you more than a pew-sitter?  May we be a community that witnesses to the love of Jesus Christ by our sharing of our love and friendship with one another?

May God give you peace and a sense of commitment to discipleship of the Lord Jesus.