The thing about those who follow Jesus, lots of them leave Him. It is not a modern phenomenon for people to walk away from the Church. Lots of the early followers left Jesus. In fact he tested his followers to see who was genuine and who was going along for the ride. We are kind of asking a lot of them. We are accustomed to the language of faith but to those who don’t speak our language, what we talk about makes no sense at all. Just like they said in today’s gospel reading, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” But that’s OK. If we all thought and did the same we would actually be computers and tablets for sale in a store. I think we come to Jesus from all angles and all kinds of life experiences. That is how it is. I have always loved Joshua’s declaration from the Book of Joshua. It has a noble quality. “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” I would be proud to have those words hanging on my walls. I get it that there is up and down and everything in between. I get it that other people proclaim that they have found something better than Christianity. Woopdedooo! I am contented with my Christianity. I have found someplace to drop my bags. This is where I will settle. Paul’s words read a bit controversial to our modern ears today. “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord…etc.etc.” I suspect some of those hearing this have stopped listening already. People get bullish when they hear anything today that smacks of oppression or downtrodding or discrimination. The danger is that we have stopped listening. How about this, let all good Christians be subordinate to each other out of reverence for Christ. The Christian way has always proclaimed humility in all things. We were told by Jesus to take to lowest place at the banquet and let someone else call us to sit higher. Nobody is trying to oppress anyone. Paul finishes by saying, “This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.” Let Joshua sing the Alleluia verse to us today, “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.”
With love, Fr. Pat