Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?

Written by Rev. Fr. Don Mendoza | 21 August 2012

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Green) Cycle B, Year II (August 26, 2012)
Jos 24:1-12, 15-17, 18/Eph 5:21-32/Jn 6:60-69

After all the explanation of Jesus Christ regarding His being the Bread of Life that comes down from heaven, many of His disciples find it hard to understand the new teaching of Jesus and cannot believe it and so they leave Jesus. Jesus then asks His apostles whether they too will leave Him. Peter, responding on behalf of his companions, says: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68).

Many of us are like these disciples of Jesus. We find it hard to understand the teachings of the Bible, much more to live them up in our daily lives. This is normal in the sense that the teachings of the Bible, especially of Jesus Christ are very different from the teachings and values of the world where we live. But our attitude in facing the teachings of Jesus must not be like the attitude of the Jews; they simply leave Jesus Christ when they cannot accept His teachings.

There is a need for us to understand the reason behind the difficulty in understanding and in accepting Christ's teachings. Given the fact that Christ's teachings are in contrast to our worldly values, it will surely be difficult for us to understand them and much more to live by them. The difficulty continues because many of us do not want to sacrifice these worldly values. We want to live our life the way we want it to be. But following Jesus Christ means losing our life and our personal worldly values in order for us to assume the life and values of Jesus Christ. Indeed, this is very difficult since it entails not only self-sacrifice but also self-surrender and personal death, that is, death to our selfishness, to our sinfulness and to our selves.

Indeed, Christian life is a very difficult life since it demands too much. It demands not only our time, our money, our effort, but also our heart, mind and life. But the question is: Do we have a choice? It is very clear in the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel that He is the Only One who comes from God the Father; He is the Bread of Life that comes down from heaven. There is then no other way to heaven or to the Father except Jesus Christ. For this reason Simon Peter says: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

We have to understand that life on earth is not the life meant for us by God when He created Adam and Eve. We are here on earth as a consequence of the Original Sin. Our life here on earth then is a test on our faithfulness to the teachings of Christ. Just as Christ has been obedient to His heavenly Father, we too must be obedient to Jesus by following His teachings. It is when we become faithful to Christ that we acquire the fullness of life which is the union with God.

May we always follow Jesus Christ and only Him in our life journey and be faithful to Him amidst the difficulties and contradictions of life because only Jesus Christ has the words of eternal life; only Jesus can bring us to the communion with God, our loving Father.