May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
Today we conclude our encounter with the Lord Jesus in the sixth chapter of the gospel of John. Some four weeks ago we heard of the miracle of great abundance, which is the overwhelming message of the whole gospel, that small things placed in the hands of the Son of God bear great fruit. Whether it is a seed, a measure of yeast or lunch that is shared by a little boy, what is offered in sacrifice to God is returned in an abundance of divine goodness and sanctified by an abundance of divine grace. As we have heard the Lord Jesus proclaim himself to be the bread of life and as we have heard his command to eat his flesh and drink his blood, we have pondered the mystery of the Holy Eucharist as our food, as our strength for the journey, and as the real presence of Christ offered to us and for us. Today we conclude our encounter as we meditate upon the Holy Eucharist as an invitation to communion.
In our reading from the book of Joshua we hear of the leaders of the tribes of Israel in a moment of decision. Joshua addressing the gathered leaders of the community places before them a choice. Joshua invites them to choose between serving the Lord God, the one who had led them out of Egypt and freed them from the slavery to Pharaoh, or serving the gods of other peoples. Joshua then makes his own choice known: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” The people responding to the invitation and recounting the mighty deeds of the Lord acclaim, “We will also serve the Lord, for he is our God.” Led by Joshua the people of Israel accepted the invitation of the Lord to a life in relationship with him. They accepted the invitation to communion with the Lord. And by accepting the invitation of the Lord, they had to reject the invitation, in truth the temptation, to serve any other gods.
The people who had been following the Lord Jesus faced a moment of decision as well. Though they had been with the Lord for the feeding of the five thousand, though they had been fed by bread and by the word of the Lord, many of the people chose to walk away from the Lord Jesus. “This is a hard teaching, who can accept it?” they said. Face to face with the Son of God, they chose to return to their former way of life and they walked with Jesus no longer. The invitation of the Lord Jesus, that was now rejected by so many, was an invitation to life in communion with him. It was for them, and is for us, an invitation to life in the communion of perfect love that is the Blessed Trinity. This invitation to communion with God is, my dear brothers and sisters, an invitation to become the persons we were created to be. From the eternal love of the Eternal Father, we were created to share the likeness of His Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. And like the leaders of the people of Israel and like those who had followed the Lord Jesus, we must choose this day and each day the one whom we will follow. We were chosen in the waters of baptism. God has declared his choice and has offered the invitation. Our precious and costly response is our own. God will not deny us our choice, just as he did not deny the Blessed Mother her choice, for we were created in love and we were created in freedom. Our response to the invitation to life in communion with God is ours alone to give.
As we celebrate this Eucharist today, let us ask for the grace to choose to serve the Lord God alone and reject the temptation to serve other gods. Let us respond with love to the invitation to love that the Lord offers to us. And let us, with Peter and the Apostles, accept the invitation to a life in communion, and declare to the Lord Jesus, “We have come to believe and we are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
