Twenty-First
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading
I
Jos
24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b
Joshua gathered together all the tribes of
summoning their elders, their leaders,
their judges, and their officers.
When they stood in ranks before God,
Joshua addressed all the people:
"If it does not please you to serve the LORD,
decide today whom you will serve,
the gods your fathers served beyond the River
or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling.
As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
But the people answered,
"Far be it from us to forsake the LORD
for the service of other gods.
For it was the LORD, our God,
who brought us and our fathers up out of the
out of a state of slavery.
He performed those great miracles before our very eyes
and protected us along our entire journey
and among the peoples through whom we passed.
Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."
Responsorial
Psalm
Ps 34:2-3, 16-17,
18-19, 20-21, 22-23
R (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
The Lord has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The Lord confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Many are the troubles of the just one,
but out of them all the Lord delivers him;
he watches over all his bones;
not one of them shall be broken.
R Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Eph
5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32
Brothers and sisters:
Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
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.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,
cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,
that he might present to himself the church in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one hates his own flesh
but rather nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ does the church,
because we are members of his body.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.
Gospel
Jn 6:60-69
Many of Jesus' disciples who were listening said,
"This saying is hard; who can accept it?"
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to them, "Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending
to where he was before?
It is the spirit that gives life,
while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe."
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one who would betray him.
And he said,
"For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me
unless it is granted him by my Father."
As a result of this,
many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him.
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.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
Commentary
Today’s
First Reading comes from a tradition that contains memories of a covenant
ceremony set at Shechem. While this
text may be rooted in some past ceremony, such as a renewal of the Sinai
covenant in which the Shechemites were invited to participate, the present text
has been influenced by covenant renewal ceremonies that were celebrated
periodically in
Joshua
gathers together all the tribes of
The
Second Reading gives us part of a Code of Conduct for the Household of God.
The household codes contained in the New Testament were adapted from
Greco-Roman popular philosophy to assist in the moral instruction of Christians.
They depict the Christian household as a hierarchically ordered social
unit and may have served the function of responding to accusations that
Christianity undermined the social fabric by advocating equality among its
members.
In
Greco-Roman literature, as well as here in Ephesians, the household codes
treated relations between husbands and wives, children and parents, and slaves
and masters as relationships of subordinates to superiors.
This particular code, similar to that found in Colossians, is integrated
into the overall thought of the letter by the expansion relating to Christ and
the church. Christ’s lordship over
the body is presented as the model for the husband as head of the wife.
A further expansion focuses on Christ’s love for the church and the
image of the church as the bride of Christ.
Today’s Gospel Reading presents an apparent crisis of faith on several levels: first during Jesus’ ministry; second the crisis from the Johannine community; third the crisis that exists today. Jesus’ words cause a division in the crowd, but this division is not among the Jewish crowd. Rather, this division addresses the Christian community. Some of his disciples now abandon him, and this gives rise to the presentation of two models: Peter and Judas. Peter, serving as the spokesperson for the twelve demonstrates faith: "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." In the final verse, which is not part of this Sunday’s reading, we are reminded of the name of the person who would betray Jesus with the horrifying fact that he was one of the twelve.
The
introduction to the reading does not say what was so scandalous about Jesus’
speech that led to his being abandoned by so many followers.
The communal concerns about his claim that his flesh is the bread of
life, and the fact that disciples are being addressed all suggest that the
eucharistic discourse is the source of division.
However, Jesus’ claim to “give life”, was also a source of
contention the identification of his word with the “bread from heaven” in
the earlier part of the discourse might also be the focus of such concerns.
As a whole, the passage certainly reflects a crisis within the Church.
Reflection
Decisions
are part of our everyday lives. Most
of the time we don’t give a second thought to the decisions we make like when
we’re deciding whether or not to have fries with our meal.
Sometimes though, the decisions can be much more difficult.
On September of last year for example, I made the decision to stop
smoking. It was difficult because I
truly enjoyed smoking. I had
“tried” to stop before but for some reason or another I would revert back to
smoking and find some excuse to justify my actions.
But this time was different, I truly made a conscious decision to stop.
Today’s readings challenge us to make once and for all a conscious
decision to follow the Lord and live according to his Word.
For both the author of the Book of Joshua and the Gospel of John, there is no middle ground. We either choose to follow the Lord wholly or we can no longer consider ourselves a follower: "If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve” (Jos 24:2) "This saying is hard; who can accept it?” “. . . as a result of this many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” (Jn 6:60, 66). The problem is that many people want to accept from the Lord what is convenient for them but find fault in and reject anything that puts a wrinkle in their lifestyle. The difference between the followers (disciples) in John’s Gospel and people today though, is that the disciples abandoned Jesus whereas today, people try to distort the Gospel meanings to suit their needs or agendas. We’re all guilty of this to some degree, beginning with myself and even the Church as an institution. How can anyone claim to be a follower of Jesus and yet “water down” the Gospel or twist its meaning in order to justify something that is clearly wrong in the eyes of God? How can some people accept at face value only parts of Scripture and then totally deny other parts such as the institution of the Eucharist?
Church teaching – Catholic Doctrine as some will say- is based on Scripture which we believe was written through divine inspiration. This means that God speaks to his people through Scripture and his message is free of error. Why then do so many people twist and distort this message? Why do some even go as far as to silence God? Today’s second reading, for example, is presented in two options: a long and short version (I purposely chose the long form). The short form, which will probably be read in most parishes this Sunday intentionally omits the verse “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”, because it could be offensive to some people. Additionally, when I or others have spoken against the homosexual way of life, cohabitation, immoral business practices or lifestyles, adultery, or abortion, I’m labeled as an intolerant person, and am usually told that the Church needs to open up and step into the 21st century. It amazes me that people want to continue to live a life that departs from the truth revealed in Jesus Christ and yet want to justify themselves by distorting God’s Word.
What
was clear to the writer of Joshua is made even clearer in the Gospel of John.
When the people refused to accept the teachings of Jesus they left – oh
but not quietly – they murmured. In
other words, they not only left, they complained about leaving even though it
was their decision to do so. Jesus
does not chase after them or change his message by softening it up for them.
He’s not concerned if his words are not very palatable to his
listeners. In fact he even
challenges the twelve that remain: "Do
you also want to leave?" The
lesson is clear, we’re either a Jesus follower or not.
It’s not the person who is condemned – Jesus does not condemn them
for their lack of resolve – it’s the lifestyle that is wrong and condemned.
We must love the alcoholic and drug addict, it’s their addiction we
despise. We must love the adulterer,
but despise his infidelity. We love
the criminal but detest the crime, and we must love the homosexual but detest
and reject the lifestyle. It’s not
easy. It become extremely difficult
to live according to God’s Word, but if we choose to be a disciple of Jesus we
must do it regardless of the price we have to pay.
Are these hard words then? Do
you also want to leave?
Biblical
Sources
New
American Bible; Brown, R. K., and Comfort, P. W. (trans.) and Douglas, J.
D., (ed.) “The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament”; United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Auld, A. G., “Joshua, Moses and the
Land”; Polzin, R., “Moses and the Deuteronomist”; Bruce,
F. F., “The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the
Ephesians”; Swain, L., “Ephesians”; Sanchez-Bosch, Jordi, "Escritos
Paulinos”; Alegre, X., y Tuñi, J. O., “Escritos Joánicos y Cartas
Católicas”; Barrett, C. K., The Gospel According to John”;
Brown, R. E., “The Community of the Beloved Disciple”; Schnackenburg,
R., The Gospel According to St. John”; Segovia, F. F., “Love
Relationships in the Johannine Tradition”; “The Collegeville
Bible Commentary”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New
Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome
Biblical Commentary”.
Reflection
Deacon
Lazaro J. Ulloa