21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
(John 6:60-69)
Decisions, decisions! Life is full of them, from the moment we wake in the morning until we decide to put out the light at night.
The scripture readings at today’s liturgy presents us with Faith decisions and gives us models to assist us.
Joshua was a man who did not mince his words. ‘If you will not serve the Lord’, he asked them, ‘whom will you serve?; the gods of your ancestors or the gods of the Amorites?’ He had no difficulty in deciding what God he himself would serve; he would serve ‘the Lord’. This strong assertion of his Faith in the one God gave the people the encouragement they needed to proclaim the same Lord as their God.
In the Gospel today, Jesus calls on his disciples for a proclamation of their Faith in him. ‘Do you want to go away too?’ Many of those who followed Jesus, did so because of his miracles or because of vested curiosity. When they heard him claim that he was giving his flesh and blood as the food of salvation, many of them left in confusion and incredulity. Because Peter and the other apostles had been drawn to Jesus by the Father, they were able to see beyond the miracles and the promises to the meaning of the mission of Jesus, to bring life to the world; to free captives, give sight to the blind, to lift the oppressed, to feed the hungry, to bring light to the darkness and to make all people whole.
During our celebration of the Eucharist, the Lord comes in Word and Sacrament to make us holy and worthy of him. The Bread and Cup of salvation strengthens us in our commitment and our mission and the Word sustains us in our Faith and relationship with the Lord himself. For us who have known the Lord, who have walked in his ways, who learned from him and have been fed by him, is there a decision? ‘To whom shall we go? We know that you are the Holy One of God.’