We are in the twenty first
Sunday of Ordinary Time. Today we are concluding the gospel passage about the
teaching of Jesus on the Eucharist. For past four Sundays we have been hearing Jesus,
telling about Himself as ‘bread came down from Heaven”. In today’s pericope
Jesus concludes His discourse on the Eucharist by inviting the audience to make
a concrete decision. Many of His disciples feel that the teaching of Jesus on
the Eucharist is very hard to accept (Jn 6:60). And so they decide to depart
from Jesus. We need to note that the disciple leave Jesus not because they have
found His teaching as very complex and difficult to comprehend. Rather, they
leave Jesus as they could not get what they had expected from Him. All who were
listening to Jesus got clearly what Jesus said. They had understood what does
it mean by ‘eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood’ (Jn 6:53). But they
would not want Jesus to offer salvation in the form of eating of His flesh and
drinking of His blood. They looked for a political messiah who could free them
at once from the subjugation of the Roman Empire. Their intention of crowning
Jesus as the king of Jews could not be materialized as Jesus speaks in the
language of other worldly nature. To those grumblers Jesus says, “it is the
spirit who give life; the flesh is no help at all” (Jn 6:63). He invites them
to rise up to the level of transcendence, not get struck with fleeting human
glory. Their failure to rise up to that level of other worldly is related to
their lack of faith.
Jesus turns to the apostles
and asks about their decision. Peter, the spokesperson of the twelve declares
thus; “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.” (Jn
6:68-69). When peter said this he must have not fully understood what Jesus
said about the Eucharist. The last supper – where the Lord instituted the Holy
Eucharist – is yet to happen. All that peter and his companions know at this
time is that their master will not fail them at any point. They have great
confidence in Jesus that even if there are some hard and controversial things
are found in Jesus, they are in no way barrier to accept Him as the redeemer.
They have come to believe and know that Jesus is the Lord of life (Jn 6:69). And
so they are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. Their faith gives them the
assurance that Jesus is not an empty promise. What begins today with faith
leads to a fuller understanding at latter days. This is what the fathers of the
church meant by ‘faith seeking understanding’. The apostles have opened
themselves to a better understanding in the near future by placing their faith
in the hard realities of the present moment. This is dogged faith – not giving
up easily in the face of difficulty. The struggle that the audience of Jesus have
in accepting the teaching on the Eucharist is necessary as they are of this
world. The faith that the apostles exhibit amidst obscurity is a proof that
they are into the mystery of God. The fact that they are the first bishops of
the Church to pass on the gift of Eucharist is a proof that their faith has won
a victory. Their decision to stay with Jesus come what may was their
receptiveness to the voice of God in their deepest level of spiritual life. Yes,
their faith was strong because they were drawn to Jesus by the will of God (Jn
6:44, 65). By disposing themselves to the will of God, they are able to
withstand the hard teaching of Jesus.
In the second reading St.
Paul invites wives to submit themselves to their husbands (Eph 5:22). The word
‘submit’ should not be understood in the sense of slavery – where one is out of
free will. The submission that St. Paul envisions for wives is to respect the
role of a husband as the head of the family whose job is to protect the family.
In this way, the woman is not becoming a slave to her husband. She is
acknowledging the role of her man which prompts him to act responsibly. The
companionship in marriage is not to compete, rather to complement each other.
St. Paul insists husbands to be like Christ in dealing with their wives. Just
as Christ never gives up on her woman – the Church – despite her many
infidelities, husbands should never give up on their wives under any
circumstances. They need to defend their wives like Christ who had to sacrifice
His life on the process (Eph 5:25). Wives need to exhibit complete faith on
their husbands like the apostles in the Gospel. Their faith will make them
better understand their husbands as they journey ahead in their marital life.
Faith builds family and infuriates the enemy – the devil. Faith enables one to
transcend and see the other as God sees. Remember people saw Sarah as a barren
woman but God saw her as the mother of generations. People saw David as a poor
shepherd boy but God saw him as the king of Israel. To see one’s husband and
wife just as God sees and to approach the Eucharist with the eyes of faith one
needs the help of God, for which faith is the foundation. May we renew our
decision towards God and spouse today, just as Israelites renewed their
commitment to the Lord in the first reading. As for me, I will remain with the
Lord come what may (Jos 24:15b, Jn 6:68). What is your decision?
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