August_27_2006

Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, 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 land of Egypt, 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.”

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.”

Many left Him. Most left Him. All but a few left Him. Not because they misunderstood the teaching that they must eat His body and drink His blood, but because they understood it. They were unable to get past the literal meaning of the words to see the transcendent mystery that we know as the Eucharist. Indeed, we can sympathize with them to some degree. The teaching on the Eucharist is impossible to understand, and therefore, for many, hard to believe.

I am sure that many others left Him throughout His ministry on other teachings. Throughout His ministry, Jesus taught the dangers of wealth. The people of His time thought that if you were healthy and wealthy, God was pleased with you. If you were poor and ill, then God was displeased with you. Jesus’ teaching was a radical change from that understanding. He said, “It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” I am sure many left Him then. That teaching was too hard.

Certainly, many left Him when He taught that divorce and remarriage was not permitted. It had been permitted under Mosaic Law and He changed the law. It's very clear in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s Gospels. In fact, so common was divorce at the time that the crowd was shocked to hear this new teaching. They responded by saying, “Well, if that’s the case, it’s better not to marry.” So, certainly, many left Him. Many still leave Him over that teaching.

I remember a few years ago, I taught what Jesus taught on divorce and remarriage, and introduced the subject of annulments. I tried to be very pastorally sensitive and all that. I prayed hard and about six months later, I saw a lady at church and she said, “Well, I’m back but I left the church for six months because of that sermon you gave.” I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking, “You didn’t leave the church for six months because of what I said. You left the church for six months because of what Christ said. I just restated it much more gently than Christ stated it initially.”

Peter, you know, did not leave. Peter kept his eye on Jesus. Where Jesus led, he followed. What Jesus taught, he accepted. That is where the others failed. They had the cart before the horse. They wanted to hear all of Jesus’ teachings, and then determine whether He is Lord. When, of course, the other way is correct. If you call Jesus Lord, then you accept His teachings. However, they had the cart before the horse.

Jesus teaches us today, in His church. He teaches all the things that He taught that we know about in Scripture. In addition, He continues to speak to us through the church, through what we call the Magisterium, the teaching authority of the church. Of course, He gave us this Magisterium because He wouldn’t want to leave us without a shepherd. Give us all a Bible and say, “Here, fight over this. What does it mean?”

Currently we have a German shepherd in Rome. He doesn’t bite. Actually, Pope Benedict XVI may be the gentlest soul to sit in that chair in centuries. He truly is a gentle man, and a wonderful theologian.

It is clear that Jesus gave us this shepherd. You know the story in Matthew’s Gospel. It is quite clear. Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” Notice that Jesus always asks Peter. He is their spokesman. There is a pecking order. There were 72, then there’s 12, then there’s 3 (Peter, James and John), and then Peter. You can see that in four or five examples that we know of in scripture. So, He says, “Who do you say that I am?”, and Peter says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Messiah.” Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah,” because that was his name, Simon, son of John. “You are Peter.” He changed his name, and in the scriptures, and the Jews knew this, when your name was changed, you got a new mission. Abraham, before he was given the mission to be the father of many nations, his name was Abram. His wife’s name was Sarai, and they became Abraham and Sarah. There are other examples as well, where people are given a new name with a new mission. So, He says, “Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, for no man has told you this but my Heavenly Father. You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” That’s what He says to Peter and the apostles, “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you shall hold bound are held bound.” He gave Peter the “keys of the kingdom,” what does that mean? He says, in Luke 10, “Whoever listens to you listens to Me.” In Matthew 10, He says, “Whoever receives you, receives Me.”

The problem with the disciples in Jesus’ day, and some disciples in today’s day, is that they scrutinize the teachings of the church, the Creed, the doctrines, whatever. Then they decide whether or not they accept the Teacher, and by extension, His church. I know this is the case.

Oftentimes, people come to see me, and they are attracted to Jesus and they are interested in the church. They come to see me, and they say, “Give me something to read.” As if you could read this book, and go, “Ah! There it is! I believe.” Of course, I give them the Catechism, and various CD’s and tapes and what have you. I say, “Write down your questions.” Then they come with all their objections. I try to answer them, and generally, we are able to agree. Then they come back, and they come back, and some of these guys will go on for 20 years. Finally, I tell them, “You’ve got this wrong. You have the cart before the horse. You are trying to figure out if you agree with all the teachings and then you will accept Christ. That is the criteria you use to join a political party, not to follow God. You check out their platforms. If you like it, you join. If you don’t, you quit.” Some people quit the church. They come to me and say, “I’m out. I don’t like this teaching.” They have the cart before the horse. Put Christ first and everything else seems to follow. In addition, when people do this, I tell them, “You know, with all due respect, you’re not smart enough to know all the church knows. If you live to be 1000, you won’t read half of what She’s written, and understand it.” Of course, as even in science, the more you know, the more you know you don’t know. That’s where real knowledge leads you, isn’t it? A wise person who is old and learned will tell you, “I don’t know much.”

What I am trying to say is that our faith is in the person of Jesus Christ, and with Peter, we say, “Master, You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that You are the Holy One of God.” Then we submit to Him, who submitted to the Father. Jesus emptied Himself out completely for His church, for His body, for us. In return, we submit to Him, as Lord of our lives.

Joshua, in the first reading, was reminding the people to be faithful to Yahweh. Joshua had lead the people into the Promised Land, and now he was about to die, his life on this earth was ending. Moreover, he was concerned about what he saw, and so he reminded the people to be steadfast and follow God, because they had become lax in the new land. They had compromised with secular society, began to worship the local gods. They put their comfort and convenience before they put the laws of God. Judaism, the faith of the Hebrew people, and Christianity are not philosophies. They are revelations. If you are a Christian, you accept the revealed truth, as stated by Christ in His Church. Jesus is not easy to follow. He wasn’t then, and He’s not easy now. He, Himself, describes His way as “The Narrow Way.”

Today, the scriptures remind us, and we know this, and the older we are the more we know it, that real peace and real happiness can only be achieved if we follow God and His ways. Many of us have tried to follow our own ways, ungodly ways, and have always been unhappy in doing so. As Jesus said to the Father, we say to Jesus, “Not my will, but Your will be done.” Psalm 95 says,