21st Sunday in the Ordinary Time [B]
August 22, 2021
John 6:60-69

For the past five Sundays, we have listened to John chapter 6. Jesus introduced Himself as the bread of life, and His flesh and blood are authentic food for eternal life. Today’s Gospel serves as the summit of our journey through John 6, and the Gospel begins with the response of Jesus’ listeners, “It is a hard saying.”

Jesus’ teaching this time is hard saying because it runs contrary to the essential Jewish tenets. It shocked their Jewish faith. To offer His flesh as food, is as appalling as cannibalism. Presenting His blood as a real drink is even blasphemous because it directly hits God’s commandment against eating blood [Lev 17:10]. Yet, Jesus did not waver.

Jesus’ followers were facing a tough decision. They had seen Jesus performing miracles, healing the sick and feeding thousands. Many of them were expecting that Jesus would be the Messiah like King David. However, things did not go smoothly according to their plans. If they accepted Jesus as the Messiah, they had to take Jesus’ words and indeed eat His body and blood. Eventually, many could not accept Jesus’ tough teaching, and perhaps, they considered Him another lunatic or even possessed man.

Fortunately, not everyone deserted Jesus. Peter, representing the twelve disciples, said that they believed in Jesus’ words. Peter might not be different from the rest of the crowd who failed the grasp Jesus’ hard teachings. Yet, Peter accepted Jesus’ hard teachings because he accepted who Jesus is, the Holy One of God. It is impossible for Jesus, the Holy One of God, to tell a lie. What the divine Son of God said must be real and true, however mysterious it may be. This is Peter’s faith, and this should be our faith.

Many aspects of our life and faith remain big question marks for us. We may not be able to understand the reality of the Trinity. We may still scratch our heads every time a priest speaks about the two natures of Christ. We may still feel dizzy every time a preacher explains about the transubstantiation. Yet, despite these hard sayings, we believe.

If we can have faith in Jesus despite the hard saying, we can have the same faith also despite hard lives. If we can say Yes to Jesus in the Eucharist, we shall be able to say Yes to Jesus in our lives, however, broken and disfigured it may be. This time of Pandemic, we often ask why God allows this terrible time and suffering. If we do not have the Eucharistic faith, we can easily fall into despair. Yet, we trust that God is in control with true faith, and He has a great plan for us. We might not understand the meaning of the suffering we endure, but we know it will make sense someday.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP