August 22, 2021: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

God, now in this age, through Jesus Christ, has made Himself known in our world.

Now, we have a choice: to follow the ways of the world, or to live committed to God.

Joshua presents this choice to the people of Israel at an assembly following their conquest of the Promised Land, and states that He will not serve the gods of the nations around them, but serve the Lord God.  The people, fully aware of all that God has done for them, declare their commitment to God.

In the Gospel reading, many people are unable to accept Christ's teaching and the idea they have to eat His flesh and drink His blood.  It's very likely the Spirit is not at work in them to embrace what Christ offers them beyond food to satisfy their physical hunger.  So they turn from following Christ and resume their former way of life.

Jesus Christ then asks the 12 apostles if they also want to leave.

St. Peter declares that they acknowledge He has the words of Eternal Life, and so they will follow Him.

Christ indeed has done so much for us, like in the spirit of what the 2nd reading says, pouring Himself out to sanctify us.

God's love for us in Christ is a great mystery, and we recognize it in the marriage commitment of husband and wife to love each other, a sign of the relationship between Christ and the Church.

As people of faith, we are all called to similarly make a commitment.

It is a decision of whether or not we'll be obedient to the One Who has the words of Eternal Life and has sacrificed Himself for us.

And we must decide to affirm our relationship with God day after day.

I remember being presented with this choice 12 years ago on Sunday, August 23, 2009, the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time that year.  I heard these readings proclaimed at the first Mass I attended at the St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Student Center the day after moving to Valparaiso University.  In a new setting, I was invited to commit myself to follow the ways of faith even in circumstances unlike anything I knew before in my life.

Yet I saw God's goodness fully revealed in the community of St. Teresa's that was ready to support me in my pursuits as a student and in my walk of faith.  So I gladly committed myself to living out faith, and to continue growing in it, which has led me on quite a journey to this very day, as we cycle back in the 3-year cycle to these readings and they speak to us anew.