Joshua 24:1-2.15-18; Psalms 34; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69
Why do I believe?
Dear friends, faith is a fundamental human need. Everyone believes in someone or something. We put our faith in certain things and realities to carry on our lives. For instance, when we go to bed, we carry in our minds many plans for the following day believing that we will wake up. Though we are not certain about it we believe that tomorrow will come. A student believes that in getting an education he or she will secure a job in the future. A businessperson or a farmer toil hard believing that his or her hard work will bear fruits. We board a vehicle believing that we will arrive at our destinations, etc. Though sometimes our plans do not come true, we never stop planning.
Our faith amidst these realities is strongly based on the references we have to the past. Based on how things happened in the past, we believe that if the factors remain constant the result will likely be the same. Many of the Israelites that Joshua was addressing had never seen nor heard from God but had heard of the wonderful things he had done to their ancestors.
In the first reading, Joshua asks the people to choose once and for all which God they want to serve. Is it the God of their fathers who redeemed them from slavery in Egypt or the gods of the people they had met in the Promised Land? Joshua puts it clearly to the people that the choice was solely theirs. He had already decided which God his family would serve God. What happened to the fathers of our times? Do they even decide at all whether their families should worship? How many fathers worship in modern families?
Many people wander around from one place of worship to another, but they end up confused and frustrated because they have not taken the time to evaluate and see which God has done what in their lives. Other times people abandon their faith because they do not get what they are demanding from God. This happens especially to adult converts who are rushed through catechesis to be baptized and the youth who do not continue to receive ongoing catechesis as they grow up.
In the Gospel today, we read the last part of Jesus’ discourse about the bread of life. The people who followed Jesus expecting to eat more bread are now disappointed in him and fall back never to follow him again. As long as there was bread (i.e. physical gratification, pleasure, power, riches, etc.) many were ready to follow Jesus. They followed him because they had mistaken him for a magician who would feed them every day. However, when Jesus changed the topic and started referring to himself as the living bread that would fill them spiritually, many found it difficult to follow him, so they abandoned him. Do not worry when people who followed you fall back, it is because they had mistaken you for something else. The moment they discover the truth about you, they will fall back.
For us to believe in God, we need to abandon our personal expectations and submit to His blessed will: “You will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He is our Father, and as such, he cannot defraud us if we place all our trust in him. Jesus did not force anyone to be his disciple; rather, he revealed himself to the people and left them free to choose whether to follow him or not.
Submission in faith is not slavery as St. Paul urges wives to submit to their husbands as the Church submits to Christ. Husbands are to regard their wives with dignity and love and not to enslave them just as Christ regards His Church. Matters of faith are based on love and submission in obedience and not in democracy, dictatorship, or tyranny. Some people think that the Church should be democratic. Democracy implies competition and the rule by the majority while the minority struggle to have their grievances heard. In matters of faith, free will based on personal encounter with God applies.
Dear friends, let us not be confused about which god to serve or submit to. Simply back and see which God has done good for you and follow him. Otherwise, we are free to choose but also we must take full responsibility for our choices when the reckoning time comes.
Have a blessed Sunday
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 