21st Sunday of Year B August 23,2009
Spirit and Life
When you imagine yourself in the shoes of Jesus' hearers, it is not really surprising that many people who
heard his teaching really struggled with it. They were often perplexed, and even dismayed. Today's
gospel reading for example begins with Jesus' hearers saying that his language was intolerable, that no
one could accept what he was saying. Jesus had just been telling them that "unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." On first hearing, it does sound
preposterous. No wonder that his disciples were perplexed and that many chose to go away.
It takes courage along with faith in Jesus to allow ourselves to enter further into the real meaning of his
words. Jesus insists that it is not just bread, but the bread of life, the bread which comes down from
heaven, living bread that we must eat. It is the spirit which gives life, he insists, not the flesh.
Jesus' words ring true when we ponder the times of grief and tragedy in our lives, those dark and terrible
times when we have been physically alive, but spiritually dead, as good as dead really. Those are the
times when we see so clearly that bread alone does not give us life. We need much more than mere
physical sustenance. Hence Jesus' promise that the words that he has spoken give spirit and life.
Today's gospel tells us that Jesus knows that his followers are murmuring and grumbling. But Jesus is not
angry or bitter. Rather, he asks the Twelve, his closest followers: What about you? What is your choice?
Do you too choose to go? Now Peter was not the brightest spark in the group. But he did have the
knack of getting to the point of what was at stake and here, he nails the issue in an instant: Where else
can we go? Who else is there? "It is YOU who have the words of eternal life", he says to Jesus, and he
adds, "we believe, we know that you are the Holy One of God". He doesn't say that we understand,
that it is all clear and makes good sense to us.
We too, each and every one of us, like the disciples, like our ancestors in faith, each of us is called to
believe, to place our trust, to have faith in Jesus. We are called to follow him, even though we don't
always understand and it isn't always clear to us.
We wonder why it is that some hear Jesus' words and some don't, that some are unable to get past their
incredulity and to respond to his offer of spirit and life. Ours is not to question their lack of faith or to
question what is in their hearts. Carrying all those we love in our hearts, we walk by faith - a faith in the
love of God that is so powerfully revealed in Jesus. He is truly the way, the truth, and the life.
Anne Hunt
© Redemptorists 2009
**********************************************
Spirit and Life
When you imagine yourself in the shoes of Jesus' hearers, it is not really surprising that many people who
heard his teaching really struggled with it. They were often perplexed, and even dismayed. Today's
gospel reading for example begins with Jesus' hearers saying that his language was intolerable, that no
one could accept what he was saying. Jesus had just been telling them that "unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." On first hearing, it does sound
preposterous. No wonder that his disciples were perplexed and that many chose to go away.
It takes courage along with faith in Jesus to allow ourselves to enter further into the real meaning of his
words. Jesus insists that it is not just bread, but the bread of life, the bread which comes down from
heaven, living bread that we must eat. It is the spirit which gives life, he insists, not the flesh.
Jesus' words ring true when we ponder the times of grief and tragedy in our lives, those dark and terrible
times when we have been physically alive, but spiritually dead, as good as dead really. Those are the
times when we see so clearly that bread alone does not give us life. We need much more than mere
physical sustenance. Hence Jesus' promise that the words that he has spoken give spirit and life.
Today's gospel tells us that Jesus knows that his followers are murmuring and grumbling. But Jesus is not
angry or bitter. Rather, he asks the Twelve, his closest followers: What about you? What is your choice?
Do you too choose to go? Now Peter was not the brightest spark in the group. But he did have the
knack of getting to the point of what was at stake and here, he nails the issue in an instant: Where else
can we go? Who else is there? "It is YOU who have the words of eternal life", he says to Jesus, and he
adds, "we believe, we know that you are the Holy One of God". He doesn't say that we understand,
that it is all clear and makes good sense to us.
We too, each and every one of us, like the disciples, like our ancestors in faith, each of us is called to
believe, to place our trust, to have faith in Jesus. We are called to follow him, even though we don't
always understand and it isn't always clear to us.
We wonder why it is that some hear Jesus' words and some don't, that some are unable to get past their
incredulity and to respond to his offer of spirit and life. Ours is not to question their lack of faith or to
question what is in their hearts. Carrying all those we love in our hearts, we walk by faith - a faith in the
love of God that is so powerfully revealed in Jesus. He is truly the way, the truth, and the life.
Anne Hunt
© Redemptorists 2009
**********************************************
