Decisions, decisions, decisions. No matter where we turn in life, there’s a decision that needs to be made. What should I do today? What do I wear? What book should I read? What do I want to be when I grow up? Should I exercise or binge watch some TV series? And on and on.
According to the people who know about this kind of stuff, adults make 35,000 decisions every day. Crazy, right? And 226.7 of these decisions are about food alone! What should I eat today? Do I pick it up or have it delivered? Do I stick to my diet or snarf-down that piece of chocolate cake? And on and on. Our lives are filled with decisions.
I’ll be honest with you, I’m not always the best at making decisions. Some may claim that my decision-making skills closely resemble that of a squirrel crossing the street. For me, some decisions are just not that easy to make, often requiring more thought before I can decide. Sometimes I tend to make these decisions harder than they really are.
Today, all three of our readings really focus in on the decisions you and I face when dealing with our faith. In the first reading, Joshua is addressing the people and asking them to decide who they will serve. Will they serve the God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt, or will they serve the “god” of the Amorites, or where they were now dwelling. If we bring this into today’s context, the question really is this: will we serve the one, true God or the “god” that society places before us? I’m talking about the god of power, money, greed, fame, etc. – all those things that take our focus off our baptismal calling to care for and love one another. Are we trying to ‘fit in’ by becoming people who only focus on ourselves, our needs, and our wants? Or are we behaving differently, choosing to live in accord with the will of the Father? When people look at us, can they see that we are Catholic-Christians? It’s like that old song, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” If we are truly loving our neighbor as we do ourselves, there is no doubt that others will see the difference in us. We should radiate with the joy of Christ in all that we do.
St. Paul talks about our decision to share in the life of Christ. Sometimes we get distracted by the language he used when he talks about being ‘subordinate.’ But the real meaning behind this wording is all about how we view and treat others. Are we treating others like Christ? Are we being kind, good, helpful, compassionate, loving and forgiving? Or are we living in a manner that puts us above all others? We must strive to be inferior to every other person. Why? Because Christ dwells in every one of them.
One of my favorite stories is about a grumpy old homeless man who was being served by Mother Teresa. He was complaining about everything. The soup was too hot. It was too cold. It was too salty. It had no flavor. He was just relentless. Another guest witnessed all this and asked Mother Teresa, “Why don’t you just take that soup and pour it on his head?” Mother Teresa responded, “He might be Christ.”
How are we treating our fellow sisters and brothers? Are we treating them with the dignity and respect that they deserve? Are we treating them as if they were Jesus? These are the decisions that we face every single day! We must decide to be imitators of Christ and to live like the children of God that we are.
In the Gospel, we hear an exchange between Jesus and his disciples. This portion of John’s Gospel concludes the ‘Bread of Life’ teaching where Jesus explains that we need to eat his flesh and drink his blood to have life within us. To which the disciples quickly respond, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” In other words, it’s not that it’s necessarily hard to understand, but that it’s really hard to accept. Many cannot and they walk away.
But Peter says that there is no place to go, that Jesus has everything they need. Peter’s states his decision to stay, “We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Coming to believe and know is a process that begins with trusting enough and ends with understanding enough. Let me explain.
When you were in school, at some point, your teacher probably assigned you a book to read. Perhaps at first you didn’t understand what was going on and you wanted to stop reading. But you hung in there and persevered despite your complaints and doubts. About halfway through, the light comes on and it all starts making sense. The book is beginning to expand how you see things, and your mind begins to open. And it’s often the same way in our spiritual lives.
There are many things in our Catholic faith that we might not fully understand or even comprehend. But instead of walking away or rejecting the Lord’s words and actions that we don’t fully understand, we are called to stay and reflect on them – perhaps even struggle with them – until the time comes when we are blessed with the insight and nourishment that comes from these words.
Let’s face it, being a disciple nowadays is not easy. We are called to make many decisions; to accept teachings and commandments that are difficult or sometimes even seem impossible – such as loving our neighbor, forgiving one another, treating others the way we want to be treated, standing up for injustices, caring for those who are less fortunate than us, removing all hate and prejudice, and seeing others as God’s beloved children. Yes, all these sayings are hard to accept. But these words that have been spoken to us are Spirit and life. These are the words that should direct every step that we take and everything that we do. Because here’s the thing: when we fail to live in communion with our sisters and brothers, we also fail to be in communion with Jesus – who is the Bread of Life.
So, do we leave, or do we stay? Do we fall back into our comfortable routines of living the way society tells us to live, or do we take that leap of faith and believe that Jesus’ real presence is with us filling us with Spirit and life? The decision is ours. But once we have come to believe and are convinced that Jesus has everything that we need, will we want to stay – and that will be the easiest decision that you and I will ever have to make!
