be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Second Reading) 21 st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B August 26 th, 2012
First Reading: Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18 24Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. 16 Then the people answered, Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God. Responsive Psalm 24:1,2, 15-17 Lector: 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; All: let the humble hear and be glad. Lector: 3 O magnify the Lord with me, All: and let us exalt his name together. Lector: 16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers, All: to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. Lector: 17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, All: and rescues them from all their troubles. Lector: 18 The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, All: and saves the crushed in spirit. Second Reading: Ephesians 5:21-32 21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24 Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27 so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way, husbands should love
their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Gospel Reading: John 6:60-69 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, This teaching is difficult; who can accept it? 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But among you there are some who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65 And he said, For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father. 66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked the twelve, Do you also wish to go away? 68 Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. Homily: In our First Reading, we are asked to Choose this day whom you will serve which parallels Jesus asking, Will you also go away? In the Hebrew Bible Reading, this chapter in Joshua is important because it preserves remnants of an ancient liturgy for the renewal of the covenant between JHWH and the Israelites. The Israelites entered the territory of Shechem and ultimately they made a choice that both groups would worship YHWH rather than El-berith. This passage comes from a ceremony between them, the followers of El-berith deciding to join with the Israelites and worshiping JHWH. Then, in the Gospel Reading Jesus asks Will you also go away? The question is not asked of inquirers into the Gospel message nor those who had not already chosen to believe in or as we learned recently, believe into Jesus trusting him, being loyal, identified with and deeply committed to him. The question he asked arose only with his core group, the Twelve, because their leaving would be much more serious than those who were more casual passerby or uncommitted. Jesus knew that some would prove not only to be disloyal but even to betray him. He sees their commitment to stay with him as a gift from God and for them he prepared himself. We see in the First Reading and the Gospel that we are called to making a choice, to choose, and then to commit ourselves and be consecrated in our lives to God. We can
also see that many do fall away from a commitment. In some of the parables we have studied, there was the idea that the seed of the Gospel may not fall on soil or upon rock and thus be at risk during its early development. But if there is insufficient preparation then the risk is that the commitment will fall away. Once there has been a commitment to pursue a spiritual path, to abandon Jesus is seen as different from never having entered the way with a serious effort. We may make a number of choices in faith and direction in our lives across our lifetime. The twenties are commonly filled with establishing one s self in a family and in an occupation; often matters of faith are put on the back burner for a time. The future is seen as full of possibilities and in healthy young adults there is a confidence that one can drive one s own ship. Sometimes, matters of faith are not seen as very relevant to these real-world concerns. In the thirties, or after children are born and reaching school age, many young adults begin to think about what guidance or direction do they want to provide their kids, so this is a time when many who are parents reenter a religious setting. For some there is a so-called mid-life crisis where previous assumptions and premises for living have somehow not worked out as one had hoped. Many people begin to rethink what are their real priorities and who are they really? In the forties and fifties, when most people s child rearing responsibilities are coming to a close and when many are at their height in terms of vocational skills, there may be a shift in spirituality where one begins to consider how to mentor and bring change that will be sustainable in the next generation. Many suffer from realization of the flaws inherent in every human system on which they may have invested most of their energy, whether it be government, place of employment, church, and even family. It seems that we are asked again and again at each stage of our lives, who will we serve, and will we abandon a spiritual pursuit? All of the biblical stories about crossing a desert, wilderness, or climbing mountains are analogies for these places along the way where we decide yet again. Our faith path chosen in our 20 s, be it a secular philosophy or a religious one, will be unlikely to sustain us without experiencing some modification and change as we confront increasing demands and complexities. We learn what works and what fails. If we never seriously began a spiritual path, then there is a time for decision to begin and to study in depth, to learn, to be guided and mentored, to develop meaningful spiritual disciplines and practices, to grapple and struggle with all the ambiguities and uncertainties that are inherent in life, and to open one s self to the Holy Spirit. If we began a spiritual path and somehow derailed, went down what turned out to be deadends, or we became seriously disillusioned, then there is opportunity to decide again to reorder our priorities and to turn back again. Remember that repent really had to do
with turning from one direction to another, to leave the unworkable past, to acknowledge our own bad choices, and to move on. The heart of Jesus is one that places the faith path into a realm of personal relationship, where we are known and open to God and one another, and having established such a close bond and then to leave is the question that Jesus was asking. The question may be did we ever form such a bond with Jesus, with the Holy One, with the Holy Spirit? If not, then leaving is probably easier. Or if our bond was at the level of a young child and never matured, it will not sustain us. If we got hung up over institutional flaws and church politics and lost sight of Jesus in the process, then we may have trouble sorting out what to keep and what to discard. Jesus is very clear when He asks, Will you also leave me? He was concerned about the relationship between himself and each disciple. He did not cajole or threaten, but he simply asked a direct question. Clearly, each person is given a choice, the same choice available in Joshua s kinsmen and among Jesus disciples. Let us renew our decision again today to remember who He is who gives us a choice for healing. Joshua gathered the tribes together. Choose, he said. Decide today. What Lord will you serve? God, of infinite wisdom and power, why do you let us choose? Our wills can wreak such havoc. I want your love freely poured out a deluge or a morning dew. Thus I let you choose. Let us choose you, O courteous God, as you chose us. Not the bride in love on wedding day, but someone whose love is weathered by storms
Stretched by painful births, she learns tolerance, and acceptance. Herself broken, she has learned compassion. Her children teach her forgiveness. In dimness she seeks light and drinks it in. She knows the meaning of love. She is radiant with joy. O Christ, nourish us and cherish us and make us truly your loving Church. Do you want to leave me too? Jesus asks. He does not water down his words or change them. Whoever eats my flesh will live forever. Where would we go, Jesus? Who has life and words like yours? If you can create a universe from nothing; if you can invent a wheat field, then we believe that you can come to us as bread. Holy One of God, come nourish us, be with us and sustain us, or we will not have the strength. Our journey will be too hard. Amen. Prayers only. Copyright 2012, Anne M. Osdieck. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use.
What is a Sacrament? 1 In the readings in the last several weeks, the theme of the bread of communion and its meaning to us has been raised. Some traditions do not incorporate the idea of a sacrament, or some consider only two, baptism and communion to be sacraments. Outside traditions that are sacramental, generally Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and some Lutherans, the term sacrament is often misunderstood. A simple definition is that a Sacrament is a visible sign of God s grace. The Latin word from which it comes originally meant a pledge of faithfulness made by a Roman soldier. But in Christian usage it has come to refer to how God discloses himself to us through specific rituals or specific signs. In the Orthodox or Catholic traditions there are seven official sacraments including Eucharist, while in protestant churches only two are recognized (Baptism and Eucharist). Among protestants the meaning of these two rites are interpreted differently, and may not be recognized as conferring grace but as a rite of passage or a memorial. Sacraments, in catholic thinking, as explained by Thomas Aquinas, originate in Jesus, who is the primordial Sacrament from which the others are derived and they reflect God s presence and grace. They are not merely symbols to express ideas about God but God is actually present. They are acts of God, not merely signs of God. A Dutch theologian, Schillebeeckx, 2 wrote on this topic many years ago (1960) and thus we can forgive everything being framed in terms of the male gender. He says that the grace we receive in the Sacraments is working in mystical depth in our souls and is able to bring about an imperceptible transformation in the Christian s moral attitude and in his whole life. It is then that the man whose life is based on sacramental grace begins to realize how grace surrounds him and guides all his actions, and to see his most deeply personal spiritual intentions appear before him in an entirely new and surprising life as something that he can no longer understand simply on the basis of his own personality or explain in terms of human psychology. He gradually learns to realize that there is someone else at work within him So is every one that is born of the Spirit and, in the words of St. Paul, And I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me. Gospel Reading: What do we make of Peter s response in their era? He acts as though he speaks for most of the disciples in saying that acommitment to Jesus has already been made. But in their culture and also in the known history of the disciples being recruited, they were called one by one, and their commitment is personal. Peter says that Jesus is the Holy One of God this is a phrase that was used in the Hebrew Bible to identify men consecrated to God. It was used in regard to Samson (Judges 13:7, 16:7) and also Aaron, the brother of Moses (Psalm 106:16). And Jesus himself used the phrase the one whom the Father made holy (John 10:36). At that time he 1 Hugh Rayment-Pickard (2007). 50 Key Concepts in Theology. London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd. Available in paperback and Kindle. 2 E. Schillebeeckx (1960, 2008). Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God. Franklin, Wisconsin: Sheed and Ward.
was accused of blaspheming God by calling himself God s Son, and he responded that if he was not doing the work of God, then they did not have to believe him. He went on to say that if his detractors did not believe him, then they should believe the works that he carried out. And Jesus also said, It is for them [my disciples] that I make myself holy (17:19). Personal Perspectives on Communion: I remember vividly my first experience of Communion in a tiny little Southern Baptist Church when I was seven years of age. And the pattern there was the same as I experienced throughout my youth. It was considered a memorial which we are obligated to participate in, now and again perhaps two or three times a year Communion would be offered. And here is how it went: Tiny bits of bread were on a plate and it was passed around, each communicant taking one for himself/herself. The grape juice was in tiny little glass or plastic cups on a tray that would hold 20 or 30 of them. These trays were passed around and again, each person took one. The bread was consumed by each person at the same moment on cue from the pastor. The grape juice was also consumed by each person at the same moment. I was 60 years of age before I experienced a sacramental version of Communion, a Eucharist. One loaf, broken apart, and a piece given to each person by a priest. One cup, given to each person by a priest. I realized in retrospect that what had been missing in my earlier experience was the relational aspect of Eucharist. I realized that I had missed the entire point. This was further strengthened for me at St. Matthew where lay people participate in the liturgy, are at the Altar, serve communion to the people, and serve the clergy. The community shares together and it is not simply a private, personal act but we become and we are the Body of Christ. There was an old story I heard several years ago that that some of you have heard me tell before which I felt depicted the problem between heaven and hell. It was said there was a sumptuous banquet table set up in hell, but people were starving. The rule was that you had to eat the food with two foot long chopsticks, so no one could eat. The same table was spread in heaven, where everyone ate their fill because they used the chopsticks to feed one another. Books Worth Reading: Michael McNichols (2010). Shadow Meal: Reflections on Eucharist. Oregon: Wipf and Stock, Publishers. Available on Amazon in paperback. Not available in Kindle. Rev. McNichols is a Professor at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, a well-known evangelical protestant seminary. And Pastor Mike is also a close friend of Bp. +Peter and St. Matthew. He comes and is a guest homilist a couple of times a year. In this very readable little book, Pastor Mike travels over protestant and catholic understandings of Eucharist and Communion, sharing his experiences at St. Matthew and in other settings. It is a very good book for anyone crossing from one tradition to another from either direction.
Ronald Rolheiser (2011) Our One Great Act of Fidelity: Waiting for Christ in the Eucharist. NY: Doubleday. Fr. Ronald Rolheiser has written a wonderful little book that is entirely Catholic but also down to earth in explaining the meaning of the Eucharist. He says that the Incarnation is important in understanding the Eucharist. The Eucharist isn t abstract, a theological instruction, a creed, a moral precept, a philosophy, or even just an intimate word. It s bodily, an embrace, a kiss, something shockingly physical, the real presence in a deeper way than even the old metaphysics imagined. It is the best book that I have read on the Eucharist in a long time, and it is available either in hardcopy or in Kindle format.