Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18
Psalm 34:2-3, 16-21
Ephesians 5:21-32
John 6:60-69
Today we conclude the five
week series of reflections on John 6, Our Lord’s sermon on the Bread of Life in
the Eucharist. As we conclude this reflection, I am always struck by this brief
conversation Our Lord has with St. Peter. As he sees many
of the disciples leaving Him, He turns to Peter as asks “Do you also want to
leave?” I find his answer intriguing: “Master, to whom shall we go?” It’s not
exactly a bold profession of faith in Christ. He says that believes the Lord is
the Holy One of God and has the words of eternal life, but he never actually
says he wants to stay. He simply says he doesn’t know where he would go.
That response has always
consoled me. Peter knows that Jesus is the Christ and the life, and yet it
seems that he doesn’t always enjoy the path. When I was in the seminary I would
often reflect on the weight of the cross in the Christian life. My brother
seminarians and I would sometimes talk about how it seemed that our lives were
easier before we knew Christ and followed Him; we didn’t feel the sting of
conscience when we sinned, we didn’t worry about the life to come or bearing
others’ burdens on earth. We simply lived in a way that gave us pleasure and
enjoyment. And as we reflected on this in moments when the weight of the cross
bore down upon our shoulders we always came to realize in the end that while
our former way of life seemed easier, it wasn’t. While it seemed better, it
wasn’t. We knew that Christ was Christ. We knew that He has the words of
eternal life, that He is the Holy One of God, and that He is the way to life.
And yet we still struggled, a small part of us wanting to be like those others
in the gospel who simply returned to their former way. It’s difficult, I think
because it’s difficult to be Christian. When we follow after Christ we must
walk the way of the cross. We must die to ourselves.
There are many teachings of
Christ that challenge us because they go against our disordered nature. To
forgive not seven times but seventy-seven times. To turn the other cheek when
offended. To be perfect at our heavenly Father is perfect. These things
challenge us because they force us to go against the flow of our lives and our
culture. And yet the beautiful thing is that if we pick up these crosses and
follow after Christ then we know that just as He was resurrected and glorified,
so also will we be resurrected and glorified. We are not without hope.
The scriptures today point to
two of the most difficult, but also most transformative, teachings of Our Lord.
Ephesians 5 is that infamous passage quote by so many to show how the Church is
out of touch with modern man and is increasingly irrelevant in the world today:
“Wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.” Taken out of
context this teaching is indeed offensive and rightly to be cast aside, but
understood properly it is among the most beautiful passages of the New
Testament. Why is it that a woman is called to be subordinate to her husband?
Because he is called to love. St. Paul charges husbands: “Love your wives, even
as Christ loved the Church.” Look at how Christ loved the Church - He went
without food, without sleep, without comfort, had no place of his own, was
rejected by his family, friends and nation, suffered countless other sufferings
and then gave Himself up to death all so that the Church, His bride, would be
able to have life and everything that is good. Every man is called to do the same
- to lay down his life and to do everything out of love for his wife in
imitation of Christ. Any woman who objects to that kind of love is, in my
opinion, a fool because the call of St. Paul for women to be subordinate is
nothing other than for wives to allow their husbands to offer everything he
has, even his own life, that they might have everything that is good, both on
earth and in heaven.
This mystery is what we
celebrate here in the Sacrifice of the Mass; this offering of life for the
bride. You likely notice that I use a veil over the chalice on the weekends as
a reminder that while the Eucharistic celebration is primarily a sacrifice and
partly a meal, it is also partly a marital action of the bridegroom giving
himself to the bride in the flesh. He says to us “This is my body” and awaits
our reception of that gift that unites us together. Over and over again He does
this not for His joy or pleasure, but for ours. He shows us what it is love and
calls us to love.
In the gospel this weekend the
people are challenged because the Law of Moses said not to taste blood because
they believed that life was in the blood and life belongs to God. And to say
that we ought to the blood of God was offensive to them because it meant we
were receiving the life that belongs to the Lord. And that is precisely the
point. Christ took on flesh and gave us the Eucharist that we might receive His
Blood and be brought into the life that He has and so generously gives to us.
This is a supreme act of love and one which teaches us much. He teaches men how
to give entirely of ourselves out of love for our spouses. And he teaches women
how to receive the absolute love of their spouses.
These things can be hard to
accept and especially hard to live. The call to give everything we have. The
call to allow others to give everything for us. The call to profess faith in
the Eucharist. But if we persist, if we don’t flee like so many who have gone
before us, but remain like Peter, we will be greatly blessed. So let us today
make our own those words of Joshua and the people he led: As for me and my
household we will serve the Lord, for He has performed great miracles before
our eyes and has protected, and will protect us, along our entire journey.
Amen.
This Epistle reading is one of my favorite Scripture passages. As a new wife I didn't care for it as much as I do today but its traditional message resonated with me to my core. I remember thinking back then, "Of course it would be easy to be submissive if my husband loved me that way." And as I grew up a bit, I stepped away from the culture at large and have realized a few things. First, I am grateful to a priest whom disected the word submissive and hence I began to love the word. Sub - under; missive - mission. So to be submissive means that wives are to be under the same mission as our husbands. And I had thought at one time that I can't be submissive or subordinate if my husbands view point or mission in life is not the same as mine. But lately I have come to the realization how the extreme feminist movement has formed our men in a way that takes away their God-given gifts, talents, and dignity. So because I have now begun to understand this I try very hard (and fail at times) to be submissive and uplift my husband in the way I speak to him and care for him. I now realize how hard he has to work and how much providing for his family weighs on his mind. I see more clearly his talents and goodness. Since I am looking for his good traits to compliment and praise I don't see his faults as easily. And since I have started to be submissive to him I see how he really does love me and tries to love me more. When I let go and let him take charge and be the protector and provider he was made to be I see the beauty of his masculinity and then I feel the freedom of my femininity.
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