Gospel: John 6:60-69

Saint Rose of Lima, virgin is not celebrated this year.) Isabel Flores y de Oliva (1586-1617) from a Spanish colonial family in Lima, Peru, was nicknamed “Rose” from an incident in her childhood. She wanted to be a nun, but instead entered the Dominican Third Order while living in her parents’ home. At twenty she took a vow of perpetual virginity. For eleven years she lived an ascetical life of prayer and died at the age of 31. She was the first person born in the Americas to be canonized. (For more on this, see the EWTN website

1st Reading: Joshua 24:1-2

When the people reach the Promised Land, will they continue to serve the one true God?

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors-Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor-lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.

2nd Reading: Epistle to the Ephesians 5:21-32

Paul’s image of marriage as expressing the love between Christ and the Church.

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind-yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.

Gospel: John 6:60-69

When many turn away from him, Jesus’ apostles must choose.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”

For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

The noble marriage-vocation

We all need the reminder Paul gives us today, pointing out that marriage is the most widespread way of life and holiness in the Church. Every Christian is called to holiness and integrity of life, and for the large majority this will be achieved within and even through their marriage parntership. This idea might make some of our people decidedly nervous, because they have too austere or pious a notion of what holiness means, and consequently find it hard to see how it fits into their marriage. Traditional devotional writing usually linked the call to holiness with heroic devotional or charitable activity, usually undertaken by women and men with vows of celibacy. And therefore many tend to see the vocation to holiness and the choice of married life as two parallel lines which don’t intersect. By contrast, St Paul would say that the basic way to holiness for the married person is through their faithful living of family life. This is not some kind of second best for those who have neither the talent nor the zeal for apostolic works. It has also to be clear that the path to holiness in marriage is not some kind of tricky and hazardous path through a maze of rules and regulations but rather the call to reflect in the home the love that Christ has for the Church. This married vocation is realised simply by the way you love your husband or wife and children.

Our Church would today maintain that holiness is lovingly embracing our role in this world which is destined in Christ to become a new creation. So the transformation of the married Christian’s life must begin with their showing love as husband, wife, mother, father. Of course, to exercise this love in Christ is not so easy, and where it appears in full measure it has an almost miracuIous quality. The statistics of breakdown suggest that people have it hard to sustain a permanent relationship. In contrast to the self-absorption which marks so much of modern living the ideal of unselfish faithful and life-long love actually does begin to look more and more like a holy ideal, a glimpse into another and better world.

Most of us have met people of extraordinary courage who remained faithful and loving despite the strain of the their partner’s prolonged illness, or separation due to conditions of employment or economic need. These are, of course, situations of trial, and not the only conditions where true love can appear. But they are a true test of commitment. The promise that is made in Christian marriage is the commitment to no longer being the sole master or mistress of your own destiny. The married Christian can no longer think in terms of “my life”–for everything is now related to another. This commitment is not one-sided of course, it is mutually shared and mutually life-giving. At root, it is the mystery of Christ’s love, laying down your life for another. It is in and through this loving relationship, in the joy of giving and receiving love, that the married Christian is called to holiness. And living it is the married vocation. (courtesy of Peter Briscoe)

Religion A-La-Carte ?

Many of the hearers left him, while others decided to stay with him. What do we make of that? Fishing fascinated me when I was young. The tackle was basic and the catches were modest. One of the memories that stands out in my mind today was hunting for the best place to fish. As soon as someone caught a fish further along the river or lakeshore, I’d gather my gear and run off to fish there. What often happened was that soon someone else hooked a fish just at the place I had left! Maybe that’s why I was not such a great fisherman! Stability and sticking at it were not my greatest virtues!

Today’s Gospel is about coming to a decision and sticking by it. Jesus had the rare ability to offer a straight option–you were either for him, or against him. He himself was fully committed to his mission, and to all that was best for us, even if at times his disciples complained. He was used to being criticised by his enemies, but when he could not depend on the loyalty of his friends, he had to call them to account.

In a way it was hard on the disciples, because, by the nature of what Jesus offered, it could not just be some sort of an a la carte menu, from which they could choose whatever suited them. When some of his followers began to walk away, he didn’t run after them and try to reason with them. That was not his way. Rather he turned to those who stayed and challenged them to commit themselves. There are three types of people in every gathering. those who cause things to happen; those who watch things happening; and those who don’t know what is happening! Peter was the one who stepped up to the occasion. “Lord” he said “You alone have the words of eternal life. We know, and we believe that you are the Christ, the Holy One of God.” For Jesus, losing the others was worth it, if it left him with loyal followers like Peter.

A group of Christians were gathered for a secret prayer meeting in Communist Russia, at the height of the Stalinist era. Suddenly the door was broken down by the boot of a soldier, who entered the room, and faced the people with a gun in his hand. They all feared the worst when he said, “If there are any of you who don’t really believe in Jesus, get out now while you have a chance.” There was a rush to the door and in the end only a small group remained. The soldier closed the door and stood in front of those who remained, gun still in hand. Finally, a smile appeared on his face, and as he turned to leave the room he whispered “Actually, I believe in Jesus, too. And believe me, you’re much better off without those others!’