August 23rd 2015. TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: John 6:60-9

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 (Translation of a homily by Don Fabio  Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio)

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel.

GOSPEL                                    John 6:60-9

After hearing his doctrine many of the followers of Jesus said, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, ‘Does this upset you? What if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?

‘It is the spirit that gives life,
the flesh has nothing to offer.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit
and they are life.

‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. He went on, ‘this is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.’

After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him. Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’

Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the message of eternal life, and we believe;
we know that you are the Holy One of God.’

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In this Sunday’s Gospel, many of the disciples find Jesus’ teaching too hard to accept and they turn away. Don Fabio concentrates on two questions that arise from the passage: Firstly, why is Jesus teaching so hard to accept? And secondly, is assent to Jesus’ teaching something that can be given once and for all? In response to the first question, Don Fabio says that Jesus’ Eucharistic teaching does not fit in with our self-referential logic. We live lives that are directed towards ourselves. We find it hard to believe in a God that gives himself to us so completely that he becomes our food and drink. And we don’t really want to enter into an uncontrollable relationship of that sort where God gives himself to us regardless of whether we deserve it or not. But if we do assent to Jesus teaching, that doesn’t signify that we are going to follow him for once and for all. In the first reading the people of Israel declare their loyalty to God in beautiful words. In the Gospel, Peter declares that Jesus has the words of eternal life. But both the people of God and St Peter will deny the Lord many times before they arrive at a more complete state of assent. My “yes” to God is fragile. I can never be sure that it is definitive or that I will not fail in the future. My entire life is a tapestry woven of the mercy of God who forgives my denials and calls me to an ever deeper assent to him.

Why is the Eucharistic teaching of Jesus so hard to accept? Because God’s giving of himself to us so radically as food and drink does not fit in with our self-referential logic. If we accept this teaching then we will have to change our whole narrow way of looking at the meaning of life and action

This Sunday’s Gospel contains the final part of Jesus’ discourse at Capernaum and records the negative reaction of his disciples to his teaching. They say, “This teaching is difficult. Who can accept it?” What exactly has Jesus said to provoke such a reaction? The words of Jesus have been quite radical. He has offered himself completely to them, as bread and drink to be consumed as a pure gift. Why is this teaching so hard to receive? Because this radical attitude associated with the love of God does not sit well with the mentality of humanity. Such a teaching requires each one of us to change the central point of reference in our lives. It is simply not true that we find it harder to accept ugly things than beautiful things. On the contrary, we have little trouble believing in the malice or ulterior motives of others, whilst we can have difficulty seeing the good in things. To accept the wonderful good contained in Jesus’ words, we must listen with the spirit, not with the flesh. The flesh interprets everything from the self-referential viewpoint of the individual who is utterly focused on his own interests. The spirit of the human being, by contrast, is that part that is closest to God. The Holy Spirit is God himself and operates according to another kind of logic altogether, the logic of God which revolves around self-giving and mutual love. In fact Jesus says, “No one comes to me unless the Father draws him.” If we follow the flesh then we cannot be drawn to God. In this sense the flesh “counts for nothing”. The activity within the Trinitarian relationship is thus implied by Jesus’ words in this discourse. The human being is called to make a leap beyond his normal way of looking at things, to leave behind his fearful, suspicious mentality and cast himself upon the love of God. Jesus is offering himself completely, but he does not impose himself on us.

God gives us the freedom to assent to him or deny him. But assent is not something that we give definitively for once and for all. It is something that must be renewed constantly.

In the first reading we hear how the people of Israel decide to choose God as the Lord of their existence, renouncing the gods of the Canaanites that their fathers had followed on the other side of the river. It is a curious thing, of we think about it. God is God in the sense that he is all powerful and has dominion over all things. But he still leaves space so that the human being is completely free to choose him or to go with other gods. One of the themes of the Gospel reading is our freedom to say “No”. Jesus makes a scandalously beautiful offering of love. This is nothing less than an invitation to enter into the life of God which the Father is offering to each one of us through the gift of the Son. But this is a gift that can be refused. In the first reading the people of Israel express their loyalty to God in beautiful terms. In reality, the history of the people of Israel is the history of humanity itself; it is the story of a thousand betrayals. In the Gospel we find a continuation of this story. Many of the disciples turn back in response to Jesus’ hard teaching. The fact is that we can say yes or no to God. We are dizzyingly free before God and a permanent faithful response can never be guaranteed from any one of us. Even Peter, who confesses Jesus as having the words of eternal life and being the holy one of God, will nevertheless one day betray his master. We have the rather mediocre opinion that the choice between good and evil is made once and for all. If God shows himself to be God then we follow him for once and for all. If I discover that a certain course of action is just, then I follow it, full stop. The truth is completely different. I am weak and fragile and my entire life is a tapestry woven of the mercy of God. The Lord cannot work with me unless I give my assent, but my assent is something that vacillates constantly. It is never given once and for all but must be renewed constantly. The assent of the people of God in the first reading did not last long in reality. The confession of St Peter in the Gospel did not entail that he had given his assent to Jesus permanently. We must assent to God over and over again.

Everything does not depend on us, but God cannot achieve anything without our cooperation. Our assents to God have immense value, but they cannot be taken for granted. We must remain aware that we need to renew them on a daily basis and that we always incur the risk of denial.

God, thankfully, does not operate according to our logic but according to his own, which is rooted in generosity. St Peter will eventually give his assent to God in a more complete way, and the Father and the Holy Spirit will work marvels within him, but Peter will arrive at this assent only along the path of multiple denials of Jesus. The people of Israel see many marvels wrought by God, but sometimes they will say no and will see absolutely nothing at all. This is how we are made. Everything does not depend on us, but without our cooperation nothing can be achieved – this is a more balanced way of looking at things. Our actions have genuine value. The faith is not a mechanism that automatically brings about a good result. It requires constant growth and correction. It requires awareness that our adhesion to God is a matter of freewill and is never definitive – it is always in need of further strengthening. This is a good thing! No one among us can ever place himself in the presence of God and pretend that he has understood everything or achieved everything. We are all magnificently in the state of requiring further development. None of us can ever assert that we are immune to the risk of doing a particular bad action. The fact is that we do not know if we are or not. We might well be drawn into such a course of action in a minute, if the circumstances change. None of us can even look disparagingly on others and claim that we could never do the evil things that they do. In a flash we could deny Jesus in exactly the same way. But the wonderful thing is that - if we do fall - we can immediately renew our bond with the Lord. Our denials of God are dramatic, but our assents to him are marvellous indeed.