Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time Read more
Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time
First Reading
Joshua 24,1-2.15-17.18
Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; he then summoned all the elders of Israel, its leaders, judges and officials, and they presented themselves in God's presence. Joshua then said to all the people: 'Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this, "From time immemorial, your ancestors, Terah, father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River, and served other gods. But if serving Yahweh seems a bad thing to you, today you must make up your minds whom you do mean to serve, whether the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now living. As regards my family and me, we shall serve Yahweh.' The people replied, 'Far be it from us to desert Yahweh and to serve other gods! Yahweh our God was the one who brought us and our ancestors here from Egypt, from the place of slave-labour, who worked those great wonders before our eyes and who kept us safe all along the way we travelled and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And Yahweh has driven all the nations out for us, including the Amorites who used to live in the country. We too shall serve Yahweh, for he is our God.'
Psalmody
Psalm 33
Antiphon
Let us bless the Lord at all times.
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.
Glorify the Lord with me,
together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
The angel of the Lord is encamped
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is happy who seeks refuge in him,
Revere the Lord, you his saints.
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.
Come, children, and hear me
that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who long for life
and many days to enjoy his prosperity?
Then keep your tongue from evil
and you lips from speaking deceit.
Turn aside the evil and do good;
seek and strive after peace.
The Lord turns his face against the wicked
to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his eyes to the just
and his ears to their appeal.
They call and the Lord hears
and rescues them all in their distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Many are the trials of the just man
but from them all the Lord will rescue him.
He will keep guard over all his bones,
not one of his bones shall be broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked;
those who hate the good and doomed.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.
Second Reading
Ephesians 5,21-32
Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subject to their husbands as to the Lord, since, as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife; and as the Church is subject to Christ, so should wives be to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love their wives, just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy by washing her in cleansing water with a form of words, so that when he took the Church to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless. In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself. A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church, because we are parts of his Body. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh. This mystery has great significance, but I am applying it to Christ and the Church.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 6,60-69
After hearing it, many of his followers said, 'This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?' Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, 'Does this disturb you? What if you should see the Son of man ascend to where he was before? 'It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 'But there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the outset who did not believe and who was to betray him. He went on, 'This is why I told you that no one could come to me except by the gift of the Father.' After this, many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more. Then Jesus said to the Twelve, 'What about you, do you want to go away too?' Simon Peter answered, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
The Gospel passage of this Sunday concludes the "speech on the bread" that Jesus pronounced in the synagogue of Capernaum. In addition to the disciples, there were many people listening to him. Jesus' words that he "was" the bread and not that he "had" the bread were not welcomed by the crowd, which almost immediately deserted the synagogue "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" This was the reaction of the crowd and of the disciples.
Without a doubt, Jesus' speech was pushing his listeners towards a choice. It was a matter of choosing on which side one wanted to be: with Jesus or to live like always. It was a crucial moment even for Jesus himself. In the synagogue of Capernaum, what happened to the people of Israel when they reached Shechem, heart of the promised land and seat of a national sanctuary connected to the memory of the patriarchs, was happening again in a different way but with the same radicalism. Joshua called all the tribes and asked them, "choose this day whom you will serve" whether the pagan idols or the God who freed you from the slavery in Egypt. And the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ...therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God." It was a decisive choice for Israel while they were about to take possession of the land that God gave to them. That day they made a good decision.
Though it was not the same for Jesus' disciples in the synagogue of Capernaum. The evangelist notes bitterly, "because of this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him." Jesus turned then to the Twelve (it is the first time that the word appears in the fourth Gospel), and asked them, "Do you also wish to go away?" This moment is among the gravest of Jesus' life. He could remain alone despite the work he did to gather around him the first nucleus of the new people. Peter spoke up and on behalf of everyone he said, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life." He did not say "where," but "to whom" can we go. With his words, Peter highlighted the intimate relationship with Jesus that characterizes the disciple's faith, or even more his entire life. Jesus, for them, was a point of reference without any comparison; he was superior to any other teacher. Only he had words of eternal life. On behalf of those who were present, and of those yet to come, Peter answered Jesus that he was their saviour. They haven't understood everything yet, but they perceived the uniqueness and preciousness of their relationship with Jesus. No one had ever spoken like him, no one had loved them with so much involvement, no one had touched them so deeply in the heart. How could they abandon him? Diverging from the disciples who "no longer went about with him," Peter and the other eleven continued to follow him, to listen to him and to love him as they could. Salvation for those Twelve, as well as for the disciples of every time, is not in being without defects or faults, but is found only in following Jesus. Peter's words keep all their strength even today. Truly, we too, to whom shall we go to find words of eternal life?
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
