TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

The More Difficult Path

In today’s first reading we see Joshua as he gathers the people and declares that in his family, no matter what, his family will believe and follow the teachings of God. He said this to reorient the people of God to right worship, as they were struggling with the cultural pressures of their time to worship false gods. But such tensions weren’t limited to ancient times, and we can face the same pressures today, leaving us with the same difficult choice. We hear across all the readings today that it can be difficult to be a practicing, believing Christian. Being a believer makes us stick out in the world, and when we choose to follow Jesus, we choose the more difficult path.

Paul reminds us that when we choose to believe, it involves every part of our lives. It is not just when we go to Mass on Sunday, but it changes how we respond to our bosses, our employees, our children and our spouses. Being a believer means we put it into practice in each part of our lives. And in today’s Gospel from John (John 6:60-69), we get the conclusion to the Bread of Life Discourse we’ve been listening to for the last five weeks. Today we see Jesus rejected by some of his disciples, and it can seem as though he has failed to help them to understand what they are called to do in this life. Like those disciples, sometimes we, too, just don’t get it, no matter how much Jesus wants us to. 

But John’s insights on Jesus bring us face to face with God on earth, a God who calls each of us to look at our lives and respond to his call to follow him. How we follow will be different for each person.  When we reflect on God’s Word, we are to allow his message to invade every part of us, letting it transform our hearts and our attitudes, and thereby allowing us to declare, with Joshua, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Josh 24:15 ).

–Sue Unger

Send Us Forth are reflections written by St. Matthew parishioners and friends.