Lord, to whom shall we go? ~ by Mary Ann Allen

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

For the last several weeks, we have been listening to Jesus' beautiful Bread of Life discourse. We have heard Jesus tell us that He is the Bread of Life... That whoever eats this Bread will live forever. That the Bread He gives is His flesh for the life of the world. That whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life and that Jesus will raise them on the last day.

In today's Gospel we see that not all of Jesus' disciples could accept His teachings. "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" they murmured. And they walked away forever and returned to their former way of life.

How sad, we wonder, that these once dedicated disciples could not take the final step of faith: the commitment of their lives to Jesus.

But wait! This is not simply an event that took place two thousand years ago. Can't you hear Jesus asking us for the same commitment? Asking us the same question?

"The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." And then, the question: "Do you also want to leave?"

You see, we are being challenged every day to give our lives to or for something. As Christians, there are only two choices. Do we give our lives to human society, to money or glory or family? We ponder this even though we know that society has been formed by human beings in all their brokenness, betrayal and sin.

Or do we give our lives to Christ? To the God who long ago made a covenant with His people; that He would protect and take care of us in return for the commitment of our lives.

Can we respond as Peter did? "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

The psalmist invites us to "taste and see the goodness of the Lord." Jesus calls us in the same way. He wants us to put our words of commitment into action and to follow in His footsteps. But His footsteps lead to the Cross. That is a "hard saying." Are we prepared to live our lives as He did? Because His body was broken and His blood shed, we can expect our own share of suffering and sorrow.

But like the Jackfruit, whose outer skin is rough and difficult to slice into, there is a sweetness inside if we can persevere. For us, that sweetness is sharing in the covenant that heals. It is the gift of the Eucharist - the Bread of Life - Christ's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity that will sustain and strengthen us in our journey home to our God.

To whom have you given your life today?




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The Jackfruit Tree

~ From a suggestion by Diane Neylan ~