21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

First Reading: Joshua 24:1-2A, 15-17, 18B

Reflection:

Joshua was the leader of the Israelites after Moses. He led them into the Promised Land and through the conquest of it. This Sunday’s first reading comes from the end of the book of Joshua after the Israelites have conquered most of the Promised Land and have settled in it. Joshua gathered the leaders of Israel together to challenge them to make a decision. The temptation for all of them was to assimilate with the local culture and customs. The locals were polytheistic and pagan, meaning they worshipped many false gods. They were well-established in their societal norms. The fledgling nation of Israel easily fell prey to adopting their worship and practices. Joshua challenged them to choose who they would serve. In essence, he told them they could not serve both the one true God and the local false gods. Joshua also reminded them of God’s faithfulness to them in the past and the many miraculous deeds they had seen God perform. Joshua was firm in his decision, explaining, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” He resolved to serve the Lord alone, regardless of what the masses decided. Thankfully, they chose to do so too and, in doing so, renewed their covenant with God. We are faced with the same question today: Who will we serve? There are many false gods in our society: from fame to fortune, from success to sexual sins, and from pleasure to popularity, among other things. Jesus calls us to make a choice. Will we serve the gods of this world or will we serve him? Will we try to assimilate with our culture and look like everyone else or will we be willing to stand out and stand up for the truth in order to serve God? No matter what, are you willing to say with all your heart, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:21-32

Reflection:

The Apostle Paul illustrates here how marriage is an image of the relationship between Christ and the Church. In this beautiful illustration he shows how husbands and wives are to treat each other. It can be summarized in two words: love and respect. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the Church. How did Christ express his love for his bride, the Church? He died for her! Thus, husbands are called to give their lives completely for their wives. They are to die to themselves and put their wives before their own needs, desires, etc. Similarly, wives are to respect and “be subordinate” to their husbands. By no means does Paul mean wives are to be servile to their husbands or that husbands are to be domineering over their wives. Rather, Paul is talking about wives voluntarily entrusting themselves to their husbands, treating them with respect, in a similar way to which the Church submits to Christ.

Sometimes this passage is translated using the word “submissive,” in place of “subordinate.” That may sound worse to our modern ears, but “submissive” literally means to be “under (sub) the mission.” The husband’s mission is to die to himself for the sake of his wife. He is to love and serve her and help her to grow in her relationship with God. Who wouldn’t want to be “under” (i.e. to get behind) that mission? Furthermore, the subordination goes both ways. In fact, the passage begins by calling all Christians to “be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Husbands and wives are both called to love and respect each other in a Christ-like way. This involves sacrifice and is often difficult, but it brings joy and also gives witness to the world of Christ’s love for us.

Gospel Reading: John 6:60-69

Reflection:

This Sunday we hear the end of the Bread of Life Discourse that we have been reading from for several weeks now. Previous to this passage, Jesus emphasized the necessity of eating his flesh and drinking his blood in order to have eternal life. Now we hear the response of Jesus’ disciples to this hard teaching. They were scandalized! But when they confronted Jesus about it, he did not back down or explain the teaching away. Rather, he said that in order to accept it, they must have faith which is given to them by the Father. Jesus basically said this teaching is a mystery that can only be grasped through God revealing it to them. As a result, many of Jesus’ disciples stopped following Him. They abandoned Jesus over this one teaching, even after everything they had experienced with him and witnessed him do (including the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand). Interestingly, Jesus was willing to let them go. He even seemed willing to let the Apostles leave if they had chosen to do so. Why? Because the Eucharist is so important. Jesus’ teaching in John 6 is about his Real Presence in the Eucharist, and he was willing to lose many followers over this essential teaching. Jesus stood his ground and continued to proclaim the truth, regardless of how unpopular it was. Many of the Catholic Church’s teachings, including the teaching on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, are unpopular in our society today. Will you stand with Jesus even when you don’t understand and even if others walk away? We should echo the words of St. Peter: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” In Jesus and in his Church we find the truth, even if sometimes those truths are difficult to understand, accept, and practice in our lives.

Application:

• Who will you serve? That is the question in this Sunday’s first reading. How will you respond? Will you serve God or the ways of this world? Just like with Jesus’ teaching about the Eucharist, serving God will often be unpopular, but it’s worth it because it is the truth.