21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
John 6: 60-69
60 Many of Jesus’ disciples heard him and said, “This is too hard for anyone to understand.” 61 Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling. So he asked, “Does this bother you? 62 What if you should see the Son of Man go up to heaven where he came from? 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life! Human strength can do nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are from that life-giving Spirit. 64 But some of you refuse to have faith in me.” Jesus said this, because from the beginning he knew who would have faith in him. He also knew which one would betray him. 65 Then Jesus said, “You cannot come to me, unless the Father makes you want to come. That is why I have told these things to all of you.” 66 Because of what Jesus said, many of his disciples turned their backs on him and stopped following him. 67 Jesus then asked his twelve disciples if they were going to leave him. 68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life. 69 We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God’s Holy One.”
Salvation in the weakness of human flesh
by Pope Francis
The Gospel for today’s liturgy (Jn 6:60-69) shows us the reaction of the crowd and the disciples to Jesus’ discourse following the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus invited them to interpret that sign and believe in him, who is the true bread come down from heaven, the bread of life; and he revealed that the bread he will give is his body and blood. These words sound harsh and incomprehensible to the ears of the people, so much so that, from that moment, the Gospel says, many of his disciples turn back; that is, they stop following the Master (vv. 60, 66). Then Jesus asks the Twelve: “Do you also wish to go away?” (v. 67), and Peter, on behalf of the whole group, confirms their decision to stay with Him: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:68-69). And it is a beautiful confession of faith.
Let us look briefly at the attitude of those who withdrew and decided not to follow Jesus any more. Where does this disbelief come from? What is the reason for this rejection?
Jesus’ words enkindled great scandal: he was saying that God decided to manifest himself and accomplish salvation in the weakness of human flesh. It is the mystery of the incarnation. The incarnation of God is what provoked scandal and presented an obstacle for those people — but often for us too. Indeed, Jesus affirms that the true bread of salvation, which transmits eternal life, is his very flesh; that to enter into communion with God, before observing the laws or satisfying religious precepts, it is necessary to live out a real and concrete relationship with him. Because salvation came from him, in his incarnation. This means that one must not pursue God in dreams and in images of grandeur and power, but he must be recognized in the humanity of Jesus and, as a consequence, in that of the brothers and sisters we meet on the path of life. God made himself flesh. And when we say this, in the Creed, on Christmas Day, on the day of the Annunciation, we kneel to worship this mystery of the incarnation. God made himself flesh and blood; he lowered himself to the point of becoming a man like us. He humbled himself to the extent of burdening himself with our sufferings and sin, and therefore he asks us to seek him not outside of life and history, but in relationship with Christ and with our brothers and sisters. Seeking him in life, in history, in our daily life. And this, brothers and sisters, is the road to the encounter with God: the relationship with Christ and our brothers and sisters.
Even today, God’s revelation in Jesus’ humanity can cause scandal and is not easy to accept. This is what Saint Paul calls the “folly” of the Gospel in the face of those who seek miracles or worldly wisdom (cf. 1 Cor 1:18-25). And this “scandalousness” is well represented by the sacrament of the Eucharist: what sense can there be, in the eyes of the world, in kneeling before a piece of bread? Why on earth should someone be nourished assiduously with this bread? The world is scandalized.
Faced with this prodigious deed of Jesus, who with five loaves and two fish fed thousands of people, everyone acclaimed him and wanted to lift him up in triumph, to make him king. But when he himself explains that the gesture is a sign of his sacrifice, that is, of the gift of his life, his flesh and blood, and that those who want to follow him must resemble him, His humanity given for God and for others, then no, this is not pleasing, this Jesus throws us into crisis. Rather, we should be worried if he does not throw us into crisis, because we might have watered down his message! And we ask for the grace to let ourselves be provoked and converted by his “words of eternal life”. And may Mary Most Holy, who bore her Son Jesus in the flesh and joined herself to his sacrifice, help us to always bear witness to our faith in our real lives.
Angelus, 22/08/2021
At times God asks too much
by Fernando Armellini
We are at the end of Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum. The Jews, who have sought him as a miracle worker, are faced with a staggering request: to welcome him, bread which came down from heaven. They have to make a choice whose stakes are high: to continue to live as they have done so far, adapting themselves to the wisdom of this world, and contenting themselves with the material bread, or make a quantum leap, accept his gospel, which is the bread of life.
At the beginning of the passage (v. 60), oddly enough, new interlocutors are introduced: no longer the “Jews,” but the “disciples.”
The reason for this change of character is pastoral. The evangelist reports the reaction of the crowds, that have materially assisted the sign of bread, just because it sees the crisis of every disciple reflected in it, when he or she is placed in front of the exacting requirements of the Master. The author speaks to the Christians of his community to invite them to resolutely decide in whom and in what they intend to believe.
The observation is bitter: many of the disciples who saw the sign and who listened to the speech do not accept the proposal of Jesus. It’s too “hard,” they say. Not that they have not understood. At first, it is true, they have misunderstood. Maybe someone has thought of a meal by cannibals, but not any more, now everything is clear. They have understood very well what Jesus means, but are unwilling to give their consent. Uniting one’s life to his, choosing to give one’s life, involves too great a risk.
To trust or not to trust him, this is the alternative.
The proposal can be accepted or rejected, but not negotiated, modified, made more acceptable by the cancellation of some of its demands. The choice is not just with the mind and the heart, but also through the act of approaching to receive the bread of the Eucharist in which Christ is really present, is offered to the disciple.
At this point, a disturbing question arises. If worthily receiving the Eucharist call for being so determined and so radical in giving one’s life together with Christ, who can ever dare to take communion?
Let us, for a moment, suspend the answer to this question and see how Jesus reacts to the difficulty of the disciples to adhere to his proposal?
This is not surprising, because misunderstanding and rejection are part of the mystery of human consciousness (v. 61). Then, instead of mitigating his demand, he reports a new puzzle; he announces in a dramatic moment to the Christian community: his return to heaven from where he descended as bread.
The mysterious statement “when you see the Son of man ascending to where he was before?” (v. 62) can be paraphrased like this: if you have so much trouble accepting my proposal now that I am in your midst, what will happen when I will have returned to the Father? Then you will be demanded a purer faith, without ties to any verification, from any vision, from any significant contact with me, other than that of the sacramental signs.
To get involved in this pure faith, the disciples are asked to leave the world of the “flesh” and enter the world of the Spirit. “The flesh is useless” to those who want to understand the gospel proposal (v. 63). The purely human and earthly wisdom is unable to enter into the mysteries of God: “The one who remains on the psychological level does not understand the things of the Spirit. They are foolishness for him and he does not understand because they require a spiritual experience” (1 Cor 2:14). It should not be surprising, then, that the gospel can not be accepted by those who insist on wanting to reconcile with the human common sense.
The conclusion is depressing, but predictable: “After this many disciples withdrew and no longer followed him” (v. 66).
These disciples, also present in our communities, are not bad. They should not be considered traitors, they are just consistent. They realized that the Master is demanding too much; they are unwilling to give their consent and withdraw. Jesus respects their freedom, not oblige them to share his choice, not force them to “eat his flesh.” Maybe they will look back, indeed, we are confident that they will review their position, especially those who approach the Eucharist each day will give them a witness of authentic Christian life.
The passage does not close, however, with the refusal of the Jews and with the announcement of the betrayal of Judas, but with the positive response of the twelve (vv. 67-69).
Jesus deluded the expectations of the majority of those who have followed him, but there is a group that, while not yet fully understanding what is involved in adhering to him, gives him its assent.
Faith is not based on evident and irrefutable proofs, but it is the loving adherence to a person. It’s no wonder that this adhesion is accompanied always by doubt and perplexity, and many remain, even for a long time, hesitant.
To the Master’s question, “Will you also go away?” Peter, speaking in the plural, expresses the faith of all and says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
It is the profession of faith that Christ expects of us today.
The question remains hanging: “Who can ever feel worthy to approach the Eucharistic banquet? Who can be so rash as to compromise with Christ, in such solemn manner, to give one’s life with him?”
If the Eucharist were a reward for the righteous, certainly no one would dare receive it. But it is not the bread of angels; it is the food offered to the pilgrim people—sinners, weak, tired, in need of help on earth.
In the account of the institution of the Eucharist, the Evangelist Matthew reports Jesus’ words when he offers the cup of wine to his disciples: “Drink this, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:27-28).
It is not to celebrate our own purity and holiness that we approach the Eucharistic banquet, but to obtain from God the forgiveness of sins. To one who receives communion moral perfection is not required, but the disposition of the poor who recognizes his unworthiness and his own misery and approaches him who can heal. For whoever receive it with this disposition of humble and sincere faith, the bread of the Eucharist becomes a medicine, it treats moral diseases, heals any wound, overcomes all sin.
https://sundaycommentaries.wordpress.com
THE DECISIVE QUESTION
by José Antonio Pagola
The Gospel of John has preserved the story of a powerful crisis among Jesus’ followers. We only just have facts. It only tells us that the disciples find Jesus’ way of speaking harsh. Probably the acceptance he asks of them seems excessive. At one point, «many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more».
For the first time Jesus experiences that his words don’t have the desired force. However he doesn’t take them back, but reaffirms them even more: «The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe». His words seem harsh, but they transmit life, make us come alive, since they contain God’s Spirit.
Jesus doesn’t lose his cool. The failure doesn’t upset him. Turning to the Twelve he puts a decisive question: «What about you, do you want to go away too?». He doesn’t want to keep them by force. He allows them the freedom to decide. His disciples mustn’t be servants, but friends. If they want to, they can return to their houses.
Once again, Peter answers in the name of them all. He answer is exemplary. Sincere, humble, sensitive, and proper of a disciple who knows Jesus sufficiently so as to not abandon him. His attitude could still today help those whose wavering faith suggests that they make do without any faith at all.
«Lord, to whom shall we go?». It makes no sense to abandon Jesus just like that, without having found a better and more convincing teacher. If they don’t follow Jesus, they are left without knowing whom to follow. They shouldn’t rush into it. It’s not good to get left without light or a guide in life.
Peter is realistic. Is it good to abandon Jesus without having found a more convincing and attractive hope? Is it enough to substitute a lesser style of life, one with hardly any goals or horizon? Is it better to live without questions, approaches or searching of any kind?
There’s something that Peter doesn’t forget: «You have the message of eternal life». He feels that Jesus’ words aren’t empty or deceitful words. Alongside of Jesus they have discovered life anew. His message has opened for them a life eternal. Where could they find better news of God?
Peter remembers lastly the fundamental experience. Living with Jesus, he has discovered that Jesus comes from God’s mystery. From far away, at long distance, out of indifference or disinterest you can’t recognize the mystery that Jesus contains. The Twelve have handled it up close and personal. That’s why they can say: «We believe, we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God». They will keep following close to Jesus.
