Posted on 08/25/2024 8:18:46 AM PDT by fidelis
Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “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.” John 6:67–69
These words of Saint Peter present us with the conviction we must have when fidelity to the will of God becomes difficult. God is demanding. He wants everything from us. We will only obtain Heaven once we surrender everything over to the will of the Father and believe all that He has revealed. If we fail to do so before we die, we will need to be purified in Purgatory. There is no way around this. God is a demanding God to the greatest extent possible.
The truth is that this is all good. It is good that God demands complete submission to His perfect will and teaching because these are exactly what is best for us. From time to time, because of our weak and fallen human nature, we can perceive God’s will as too demanding and His teaching as too difficult. Do I really have to forgive everyone completely? Do I really have to lay my life down without reserve? Do I really have to keep the Commandments to perfection? Do I really have to be perfect as the Father in Heaven is perfect? Yes. But as we try to do so, we will experience many temptations to give up, thinking that God’s will is too hard.
Today’s Gospel comes at the end of the beautiful Bread of Life Discourse in which our Lord taught clearly, “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.”
At the beginning of today’s Gospel, upon listening to Jesus’ new teaching, many of His disciples murmured among themselves saying, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” This teaching of Jesus is “hard” in the sense that it requires a profound faith to understand completely. But just because something is hard to accept does not mean that we should not accept it.
Peter’s statement quoted above gives us the words we should say whenever we find God’s will or His teaching difficult to accept. When that happens, we must hear Jesus ask us the same question He asked the Twelve: “Do you also want to leave?” Jesus will not try to manipulate us. He will not back down when He sees we are struggling. He will not lessen the requirement of being His faithful follower. Instead, He will give us the freedom to either believe or leave. And when we feel like leaving, we should always remember Peter’s words, “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.”
Peter’s statement says all we need to know in the face of any interior conflict of faith. Sure, we could leave our Lord and do our own thing. But where would we go? To embrace the passing pleasures of the world? To what end? If we believe and are convinced that Jesus is the Holy One of God, then no matter how hard, no matter how demanding, no matter how difficult, we must embrace fidelity to God in all things...
Reflect, today, upon any ways that you have felt God’s will or any of His revealed truths to be difficult and demanding. When you face such an interior challenge, what do you do? If your response is to turn from God and become lax in your fidelity to Him, then reflect upon Peter’s words to Jesus. Make those words your prayer, and let that prayer strengthen your conviction to become an unwavering and faithful follower of God.
My demanding Lord, in Your great love and mercy You require everything of me. You ask me to give You my life in total surrender and service of Your perfect will. When I am weak, give me strength. When I doubt, give me faith. Help me, Lord, to always deepen my resolve and to follow You with complete fidelity. Jesus, I trust in You.
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"Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” ”
(Luke 2:34-35)
“God is a demanding God ...”
Yes. The Heavenly Father is somewhat like the Army general who urges his soldiers to “be all that you can be”.
Quite often when I hear a familiar Bible reading, I discover something new or different that I had not before recognized in the reading.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says in John 6:62: “What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before”? This is the first time a made the connection between this question and Acts 1:12, in which the two men dressed in white garments said: “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven . . .”
As I reflected on this reading, I thought of those disciples who could not accept the words of Jesus and no longer accompanied Him. I wonder if any of them heard about the apostles seeing Jesus ascend to where He was before, and hearing this, came to believe.
Below you will find the full video presentation by Dr. Brant Pitre on "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist". In this presentation, you will explore the Eucharist as the New Passover, the New Manna from Heaven, and the mysterious New 'Bread of the Presence.' If you are looking to deepen your faith in and understanding of the inexhaustible treasure that is the Eucharist, then this talk is for you. In this exciting talk, Dr. Pitre shines the light of the Old Testament and ancient Judaism on the words and deeds of Jesus to reveal the amazingly Jewish roots of the Eucharist. Using his in-depth knowledge of Jewish messianic expectations, Dr. Pitre shows how the hope for a New Exodus and the coming of the Messiah proves that Jesus really did intend to give us the Eucharist, and it is nothing less than the gift of Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
Dr. Brant Pitre, Jesus & the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist
The pdf handout for the talk can be found here.
I think that is a good insight. I think a good earthly father will do this also.
Another good insight. I'm sure a lot of people don't make that connection.
Amen, thank you.
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