21st Sunday of the Year
Josh 24:1-2 & 15-18; Eph 5:21-32; Jn 6:60-69 (Year B)
“We have no intention of deserting the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt. We too will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
This affirmation of faith in the God of Israel came at the conclusion of Israel’s long pilgrimage from the slavery of Egypt to their settlement in the Promised Land.
Joshua had led the tribes across the River Jordan, enabling them to overcome the hostility that awaited them. Now at last they had found peace in a land that was their own. At this moment of fulfilment Joshua summoned the tribes to the ancient shrine of Shechem. There, in a solemn covenant, he challenged them to serve the God of their salvation, abandoning all others. “Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”
For us too each celebration of the Eucharist, and every visit to the Blessed Sacrament, is an opportunity to renew our relationship with the Lord, to enter afresh the new and eternal covenant established in the sacrifice of his Body and Blood.
In the Gospel we read that when Jesus had revealed himself as the Bread of Life, those who had heard his words were challenged to commitment. Would they accept that Jesus was indeed the Bread that had come down from heaven, that in him they would neither thirst nor hunger?
“After hearing his doctrine many of the followers of Jesus said, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ After this many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him.”
Let us pray for the humility to approach the Blessed Sacrament in a spirit of repentance. All too easily, in thought and deed, we turn from all that Christ’s sacramental presence promises and represents. Let us trust again in the Father who leads us into the presence of his Son, and in the Spirit who gives life to his words. Only then shall we be able to answer the question that Jesus put to his remaining disciples: “What about you, do you want to go away too?”
In the Spirit let us confess: “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.”
