Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
As is usually the case, we find plenty of meat for reflection in this Sunday’s readings. St. Paul’s discussion of marriage in the second reading – especially his teaching that wives should be subordinate to their husbands – can always be counted on to generate lively discussion, shall we say. I have preached on this reading before. The challenge is to explain as faithfully as possible what Paul means by this while remaining sensitive to how this might be understood in contemporary society.
However, given where we are as a Church in this country in recent weeks, it seems best to focus on the first reading and Gospel for this Sunday. In both readings, people are challenged to reaffirm their faith in the Lord. In the first reading, the Lord has led Israel into the Land of Promise through Joshua. Now, Joshua asks the people to renew their commitment to the Lord. In the Gospel, the challenge is different. Earlier in John 6, people were ready to acclaim Jesus as king after he fed a large crowd with a few loaves and fishes. Now, once Jesus begins to explain the meaning of that miracle – and that he himself is the true Bread of Life – people find this “a bridge too far”. Even many of Jesus’ own followers no longer walk with him. Jesus asks the Twelve if they, too, will leave him.
Many Catholics today find that their commitment to the Church is being challenged. The clergy sexual abuse crisis may have become “a bridge too far” for some, but it is not the only factor. Catholics find themselves in a society whose values, in some areas at least, are moving further away from Catholic teaching. The political polarization in our country affects us as well. The temptation is to identify more with our own political party or group or clique than with the Church in general. We have also been through a time when we experienced great uncertainty over what it means to be Catholic, or whether it matters. I recall being at a gathering of priests about twenty years ago, when some priests I knew – who seemed to be good, dedicated men of God – could not articulate what it meant to be a priest. If the trumpet is uncertain, who will go into battle?
As a result of all this, we are told – by data crunchers – that over the last twenty years or so, for every adult in this country who becomes Catholic, six leave the Church. This is not a desirable trend. I’ll use the area where I grew up as an example of what this means. Fifty years ago, in the cities of Biddeford and Saco, there were four Catholic primary schools, one Catholic high school, and one Catholic college, with a combined enrollment of over 2,000. Now, only one Catholic primary school remains, with an enrollment of under 150. Fifty years ago, Biddeford-Saco had five active parish communities. Now, only two of the five churches are even used. We’re talking about an area that has been predominantly Catholic for over a century. Similar examples can be found everywhere.
So, the question that Jesus asked the Twelve in our Gospel reading, sooner or later, is addressed to each one of us: “Do you also want to leave?” The occasion for many now may well be the clergy sexual abuse crisis. But, for others, it may well be a Church teaching that is hard to accept, or a Church leader who hurt or scandalized others in some other way. It may be our desire to fit in with society – or at least with “our own kind” in society. It may be some great suffering that a loved one is experiencing that makes no sense to us now. It may be simply the vague sense that it really doesn’t matter if one is a Catholic or not, or that all religions are more or less the same anyway.
Where do we find hope – not some overly naïve thing, but a well-founded hope? We have many reasons to hope, but let me begin with one that may seem counterintuitive to you: the very fact that we are scandalized by the clergy sexual abuse crisis.
Think about it for a moment. We began hearing news reports of priests being accused of sexual abuse of children thirty years ago, and the frequency of reports has only increased since then. Moreover, we have seen the so-called “sexual revolution” of the 1960’s, along with its temptation to be a lot more permissive when it comes to various kinds of sexual activity. The media have been saturated with this for over fifty years – along with violence of all kinds. We have been told (by some) that everything is relative, and that there is no objective truth, or no way to know it if there were. Humans, being social by nature, learn by imitation. We are told that people can get desensitized to violent acts (or sexual acts) by seeing them portrayed over and over in movies, TV shows, music videos and games. So, why haven’t we become desensitized? Why are we scandalized, even now, by such things?
We are scandalized by the sexual abuse crisis because we perceive in it – even if we can’t put it into words – a fundamental violation of what it means to be Church. It feels like hearing someone speak of a person you love and admire deeply in the most disgusting manner imaginable. The People of God are called to be a community of trust rooted in love. In the Scriptures, both Testaments stress the need to care for the weakest and most vulnerable among us. They are to be kept safe and nurtured. But we don’t stop at the most vulnerable in our Church communities. We show that same care to the most vulnerable all around us. It was that love for one another and even for pagans in need that became the strongest witness for Christianity in its early centuries.
We are scandalized because we sense that the Church is meant to be something far better than this. The Church is given to us as something true, good, and beautiful – and as the caretaker and promoter of all that is true, good, and beautiful.
The Church is true because it challenges us to open our minds so that we might receive the mind of Christ. When we do so, we find that the Church’s teachings do not take away freedom, but actually make real freedom possible. We learn about God and all that God has given us. We learn about how we have been created in God’s image, and what that means for us. We learn how we can best respond to the amazing generosity of God.
The Church is good because belonging to God’s people motivates us to do good, and gives us the encouragement to persevere. Look around in any parish community. You will see people who rarely, if ever, get noticed, but who visit the sick, those in prison, or those who are discouraged. You will see people who care for needy family members, or who help others to do so. You will see charitable works, great and small, done out of love for God and for others, with no thought to what might be in it for those who do it.
The Church is beautiful because it is, first and foremost, the Lord’s gift to us. If we are attentive, we can perceive beauty in liturgy and prayer. We see how Catholic faith has inspired artists of every sort in their creations: paintings, sculpture, architecture, music, poetry, storytelling. Their beauty enhances our worship and our lives in many ways. It feeds and teaches in ways that mere words cannot.
If we understand the Church in this way, we will not want to leave it. We will respond to the Lord like Peter did: “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”.
Notice that, though Peter alone speaks, he uses the plural: “To whom shall we go?” Faith in the Lord does not come to one person alone. It comes to each person within a community of faith. It is nurtured, tested, and strengthened within a community of faith. It is prepared by this community for the day when we shall all be part of the ultimate community with the Lord forever. To say yes to the Lord is also a yes to his Church, his Body, his Bride.
What should our response include? Obviously, we will strive to make our parish communities safe havens for the most vulnerable among us. We will strive to eliminate any kind of abuse or exploitation. We will strive to remove from among us any word or activity that might be a stumbling stone to someone’s genuine faith in the Lord.
Yet, there is one more thing. One thing that will direct, enliven and empower all these others. Joshua, in the first reading, invited the people to renew their commitment to the Lord. Jesus, in the Gospel, challenged the Twelve to do the same. So it is for us. We are challenged, here and now, to renew our love for the Lord and his Church. In the light of this love, we will see more clearly not only the scandals themselves, but what brings them about and makes them possible – and how to help prevent them in the future. In the light of this love, we will look at our own lives and ask the Lord for the grace to be faithful to him, so that others might take courage from our faith. In the light of this love, we will see more clearly how to build communities of trust rooted in love.
How do we renew this love for the Lord and his Church? Prayer, first of all. Ask the Lord for this gift. Be as faithful to attending Mass as you can. Be nurtured by the sacraments especially those that offer us forgiveness, healing and the Lord himself as our food. Renew your commitment to doing good for others. Grace is always meant to be shared. Read the Bible regularly – and find others to discuss it with from time to time. It’s very important to be connected with others who share your faith.
Often, a book or video can open our minds and hearts to understanding our faith, perceiving its inner beauty, and falling in love with it again and again. Check out Bishop Robert Barron’s Catholicism and his earlier book The Strangest Way. Young adults may find Brandon Vogt’s Why I Am Catholic (And You Should Be Too) very helpful.
The point is, as human being, we are wired for community and commitment. Since we are made in the image of God, then, we are wired for Church. Nothing less than the Church – and nothing less than the Church being all it is called to be – will satisfy us. The Church is the Lord’s gift to us. As such, it is worth living for. It is worth dying for. May we respond to the Lord’s question by renewing our commitment to him and his Church. May we pray that all of us – as individuals and as communities – will do all we can to help our parishes become, more and more, what the Church is meant to be. May each of us help encourage the faith of all. May none of us become a scandal or stumbling stone. May all of us feel the love of the Lord in our hearts, minds, and in our very marrow. May that love be the engine that drives us on, the star that steers our lives.