FIDELITY TO THE WILL OF GOD.
August 25, 2024.
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – B.
“Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life.” John 6:68
An Albanian proverb says: “Each husband gets the infidelity
he deserves.” A Thai proverb adds: “When you follow the old man, the dog will
not bite you.”
When saying the Lord’s Prayer, one thing we ask for is that
God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And we firmly voice our
fidelity to his will, that is, our faith in him. Nevertheless, one of the most
complicated things to keep is that faith. When we go through hardships and
tribulations or pass through confusing times, we tend to forget our faith and
who our God is. Many people, once life turns bitter, swap their faith with
other beliefs, turning away from the Church and running after miracle makers
and fortune tellers.
I read a very comic, but nice story of someone who came for
confession. He entered the confessional, the body dirty of blood and a knife in
hand. "Father, I want to confess. I killed a man." "What
happened? Why have you killed? You know very well the sixth commandment?"
The priest said. Yes, Father. But we were arguing, and he refused to listen to
reason. I told him there was no God. He kept on affirming that there was a God.
And as he refused to listen to me, I stabbed him with this knife here... Tell
me, Father, what do you think? Do you believe there is a God?" The priest
looked at the man with the hand full of blood and still holding the knife.
Thought of life and what the man was saying and answered. "Before, I
believed there was a God. But that was before... not now." Thinking
of his life that could be snatched away from him, even the priest lost fidelity
to his God. And that is the situation of many. In troubles, we swap God with an
easy life.
In today's first reading and the Gospel, we are called to
make a choice. Fidelity to God or find another way of life?
To the children of Israel who have just entered the Promised
Land under the guidance of their new leader, Joshua, a test of fidelity is
presented. We read that "Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel
at Shechem" and told them, “If it does not please you to serve the Lord,
decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River
or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling." The
people, through their leaders and elders, were to make a choice that would
stand as a new covenant. And their answer was: “Far be it from us to forsake
the Lord for the service of other gods. For it was the LORD, our God, who
brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a state of
slavery." Looking back at their story, and all that the Lord did for them,
how he led them through the desert under the leadership of Moses and gave them
possession of the land where they are, it is not only an act of fidelity, but
also a sign of gratitude for them to choose to serve and love him above any
other God. Even though, with time, and in truth Israel will not remain so
faithful to this covenant, the choice was clear. God and none other.
In the Gospel, another test or question on fidelity. After
the solemn self-affirmation of Jesus as the Bread of Life and the catechesis,
he gave about the need to feed on him to live, John reports that many of his
followers found his saying unacceptable and so decided to no longer follow him.
The Lord, in today's extract, turns with sadness to his twelve intimate friends
and asks: "Do you also want to leave?” The answer filled with conviction
and firm faith came from Peter, as a great leader, just like the leaders of
Israel on behalf of the people in the first reading: “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.”
To whom shall we really go, if not to the Lord? More than a
simple quest, it is the affirmation of our nothingness without Christ
Eucharistic. Even though situations may become tough and everything falls
apart, we can go nowhere, but to God. He alone has all solutions and all
answers.
The act of fidelity of Simon Peter does, in no way mean that
he will no longer flatter or lack faith. Even the strongest in faith can fall.
This is a truth. But we must always get the courage to wake up and stand again.
Falling is not the problem. It is to remain where one has fallen that is evil.
Fidelity is not something achieved one's forever. It is a continual journey, a
daily task. We try day after day to reach the perfect fidelity. And because
fidelity is a daily task, we need to set a model.
In the second reading, St. Paul points out Christ as the
image of the perfect faithfulness, the one husbands and wives, in their daily
living of the Sacramental love should emulate. "Brothers and sisters: Be
subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ." Paul tells the
wives to emulate the Lord's obedience and submission to God's will. He says:
"Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord." Jesus
is the perfect example of obedience. Therefore, wives should imitate him and
obey their husbands as if obeying to the Lord. It could sound as if Paul was
asking too much to the wives when he tells them that their obedience or
submission to their husbands should be as equal as to the Lord.
In a world where all speak of emancipation and equality,
many families suffer from bi-cephalism. Wives and husbands claim to be equally
head of the family. This is not so much on shared responsibilities but on
position of authority. Everyone wants to command, and no one can obey. Paul's
call to wives should resound vividly to you, wives. Learn to be submitted to your
husbands. It is a divine call that gives meaning to matrimonial love and union.
Love without obedience is not love.
The Apostle will ask more from the husbands in regard to
their wives: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her..." He invites for a
sacrificial love, a total oblation of oneself. Love, to be perfect, must lead
to self-oblation. That is what Jesus did for his Church. So, husbands, your
fidelity to your wives and the Lord should lead you also to that kind of love.
Marriage is a ‘Christifying’ journey. It leads to becoming
Christ-like in obedience as well as in love. It is only then that could we
speak of fidelity.
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