What Else is There?
Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Even though most of us have not been awake for more than four hours this morning, we have all had to make several choices since we have gotten out of bed. There is nothing strange about this because every day of our lives is a day in which we make certain choices. Life is full of choices. Some of those choices are simply the incidental episodes of our life. However, the readings for this 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time speak of another kind of choice – a choice which both Joshua and Jesus ask their respective audience today.
The Book of Joshua presents a narrative of the way Israel took possession of the land of Canaan, making it the land of Israel. This process was swift and impossible to stop. The process was followed by an orderly division and disposition of the land among the 12 tribes of Israel. The final chapter of the book, from which we read today, tells us of a ceremony of covenant renewal. Joshua stands before the people and asks whether they will obey or disobey the first of the 10 Commandments. He says, “Decide today whom you will serve”: this God or other gods. Canaan was filled with people who worshiped idols and false gods. Joshua tells the Israelites that they must make a choice. Either they will worship the Lord, our God, or they will join the other inhabitants of this land in worshiping their idols.
This is the single most momentous, most important, most fundamental choice that every single human being who ever lived had or has to make. It is the choice that has total consequences both in this life and in the next life, the choice that changes the ultimate point of everything in this life and the one that decides where we will live out eternal life. Either we obey and worship God, or we choose to follow the idols of our 21st century. Every one of us is wooed by the idols of wealth, success, fame, or one of the many other temptations that are part of every human being’s life.
For the last few Sundays, we have heard Christ’s “Bread of Life Discourse.” Throughout this discourse, Christ reveals to us a great and beautiful mystery; namely, His Eucharistic love for us. Here are Christ’s words: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” Jesus literally gave up his life for love of us and gave us the Eucharist as a way to remember that gift of love. Following this declaration, we hear the disciples’ answer: “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” The Gospel text goes on to tell us that as a result of this statement by Jesus, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer followed Jesus.
At the beginning of chapter six of St. John’s Gospel, Jesus fed the multitude that had gathered to hear him preach. About 5,000 people, not counting the women and children, were fed miraculously with five loaves of barley bread and two fish. As we come to the end of this chapter, that multitude has dwindled to just the twelve apostles. Jesus turns to them and asks: “Do you also want to leave?” One can almost hear the disappointment in his voice. He had been sent by his Father to save the world, but the world decides that it is too difficult to put their faith in this carpenter from Nazareth. As he so often does in these situations, Peter is the first to speak. “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.” Through these words, Peter makes his choice.
Jesus asks the same question of each one of us today. Do we put our faith in Jesus? Faith is first of all a gift of grace that comes from God’s free will even before it is a choice that comes from our free will. God’s grace always comes first, but it does not bypass our free will. We are responsible for the free choice to believe. God gives each of us the free choice to believe him or to leave him, to be faithful to him or unfaithful to him. Faith is not a mere idea, a mere opinion. Faith is the trust that says “yes” to God’s proposal. Saying yes to this offer changes our whole life. Faith is not just a belief but a choice, and not just a choice but an act, and not just an act of the mind but also of the body. Many of Jesus’ disciples made their choice with their legs; they walked away from Jesus. If we believe the words of Jesus about eternal life, they are the simplest and best reason for being a faithful Catholic Christian.
One of the great Catholic novelists of the 20th century, Walker Percy, was asked to write an answer to the question of why he was a Catholic. He responded simply, “What else is there?” St. Peter must’ve inspired that answer.
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