Reflection for Sunday – August 25, 2024

Marlene BessetteSunday Readings Homilies

Readings: Joshua 24: 1-2a,15-17,18b; Ephesians 5: 21-32;  John 6: 60-69 
Preacher: Marlene Bessette

Over the course of the last month, we’ve read the entirety of John’s sixth chapter, and it’s been building to a crescendo in today’s gospel. We began with the feeding of the five thousand, a story so important that it is the only gospel miracle, other than the resurrection, that is recounted in its fullness in all four gospels.

It’s a story that projects a hope and abundance so expansive that the crowd piles into boats to follow Jesus across the sea. They are driven in anticipation that this is the long-awaited Messiah who will usher in the peace and plenty of a kingdom of God on earth. You can feel the building tension as Jesus chastises them saying that, “you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”

He launches into the discourse, telling them not to “work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” The confusion builds as he tells them to put aside the fulfillment of worldly hunger to pursue the fulfillment of spiritual hunger through the Son of Man. A hunger that can only be satisfied by eating his flesh and drinking his blood. I’m pretty sure that’s not the message they came across the sea to hear.

And many of us don’t want to hear this message either. Even though Jesus was very clear that the bread he gives is his flesh for the life of the world. They, and we, fail to grasp the nature of this miracle: the opportunity to gain an intimacy with Jesus and fulfill our spiritual hunger through the Eucharist.

A 2019 Pew Research Study revealed two-thirds of Catholics don’t believe in the miracle of Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist. And not only do Catholics struggle with believing in the real presence, but there are a lot of people who at one time followed Jesus but have decided to no longer walk with Him.  Recent studies have shown that over the last 25 years, 40 million Americans have stopped going to church.  And this decline is being felt across all religions. 

The fastest growing faith tradition in our country today is the “nones” … the people who profess to believe in God but have no religious affiliation. This group has grown from 2 percent of Americans in 1960, to 27 percent today.  Like those disciples in John’s gospel who said, “this saying is hard, who can accept it?”  they too have “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompany him.”

The reasons people abandon their religion, and their churches are many. It could be frustration with the rigidity of an institution that denies women the right to be ordained. Or it could be because of those numerous instances where a Church appears hypocritical because she preaches love and forgiveness while deeply wounding individuals or groups through sex scandals or positions that disenfranchise Christians who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. For some, it may simply be that they don’t think they need church if they are good people and do good deeds. There are lots of possibilities, but I think most of them can be boiled down to the statement, “Religion is hard; who can accept it?”

The challenge, especially for us Catholics, is how we can, through the example of our lives (and maybe even a little evangelization), demonstrate the value and promise when one fulfils their spiritual hunger for the Son of Man through active participation in the Eucharist and in our Church community. How do we demonstrate that by embracing our church we also embrace Jesus? The Jesus who has commissioned us to spread God’s love into an increasingly chaotic world.

Well, there are many ways, and I’m sure all of you can come up with other examples. But why not be “church” by welcoming the hurting and disenfranchised; or by attending discussion groups that explore the struggles facing faithful Christians in our LGBTQ community. How about volunteering at Rochester Hope, an organization at St. Michael’s downtown that ministers to the vulnerable in our community. And don’t forget the joy of active participation in a faith community, attending masses, learning and catechesis opportunities, retreats, bible studies, spiritual direction, all meant to help us more fully live out what it means to walk with Jesus.

By doing this, we are responding like Peter did by answering, “Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

Marlene Bessette
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