Homily for last weekend

Ok, why are you posting a homily that already happened? No computer over the weekend. But since this was our last week in the 6th chapter of John and the oft quoted wives be submissive epistle I thought I'd share what I did with the rich fare provided by the Word of God:


Homily for August 22, 23 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

I have two memories from my childhood that remind me about choices. The first one is of time spent on the school playground. We used to play a game called red rover. After picking sides, one group would chant “red rover, red rover send Billy right over”. And Billy would run at our group, arms locked, and try to break through our line. If he could break our line, the other side won, if not, our side one. Making the right choice was part of the strategy in winning the game.

And then on that same playground came the time to pick sides to play ball. Two captains would alternate, usually picking the best athlete first, then the popular kids, or friends, and then begrudgingly, those chose last.

Again, the choices went a long way to how well we played and if we won the game.

Choices; we all have made hundreds of them in our lives. Choices about our family life, even who we will date and maybe even fall in love with, career choices, social choices, hundreds of choices! Sometimes we make smart choices, wise choices and sometimes we make poor choices, weak choices. Whether good or bad, our choices have always had consequences.

As people of faith, have we made the right choices, the wise choices in our spiritual lives? Do we choose to follow Jesus and His teachings or do we choice or own way to go?

Today’s readings are all about choices. In John’s Gospel today, Jesus concludes His “bread of life discourse” and again, the disciples are murmuring. Remember the last 5 weeks; murmuring, complaining, demanding a sign, quarreling and now murmuring again. And now they declare Jesus’ teachings are too hard. Even after Jesus clearly tells them He is offering a gift they can freely choose; His true Body and His true Blood, that leads to eternal life, many walk away, make the wrong choice and return to their former way of life. But we have an awesome example in John’s Gospel today, a witness who made the right choice. Peter, questioned by Jesus about leaving too, chooses and says, “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”! There it is; the right choice. Do we, with all the pressures of our world, with those things we knit pick apart, about the church, the liturgy and more, do we make the right choice?

Even in our 1st reading today, Joshua sets before the whole people a choice: “decide today whom you will serve”? Joshua may as well be asking us, decide today…who will we serve? Will we answer like Joshua did: “as for me and my household we will serve the Lord”. Will we answer the same way? Will we serve the Lord, in our household?

What does that look like? Will we love and support each other? Will our home look and act like a domestic church? Will we, like St. Paul encouraging us in our 2nd reading today, be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ? We know the quote, wives being subordinate. The language makes us nervous. But as a spiritual teaching it does not mean what we think it means. It means do we make the choice to follow Jesus. After all, St. Paul tells husbands, love your wife just as Christ loved the church. Again, this is a choice we can or can not make. Again, St. Paul is sharing with us the gift, freely given by the Lord, to make our lives, our homes and our marriages, all to serve the Lord and one another.

Next week, we will leave this 6th chapter of St. John and return to the Gospel of St. Mark. Have you read and prayed with this 6th chapter of St. John yet. It’s a free choice you can make. And in the week ahead, can we as families, discuss and pray with each other, answering this question: does our home and our relationships look like the domestic church? And as we prepare to come forward to receive the Eucharist in just a few minutes, do we make the free choice to receive Him worthily, free from mortal sin and firmly declaring He is true food and is true drink; the Body and Blood of the Lord?

Imagine if you will, playing red rover or waiting for someone to pick sides on the playground. And imagine hearing Jesus call out: “red rover red rover send (insert your name here) right over” or, I choose you.

At that moment we have a choice; we have an answer to give. Will it be like Joshua; we choose to serve the Lord or perhaps like Peter; to whom else do we go; for we believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God!