Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk
21st Sunday of
the Year, B – August 26, 2018.
Readings: Joshua 24:1-2a.15-17.18b;
Ps 34:1-2.15-16.17-18.19-20.21-22(R.8a);
Ephesians
5:21:32; Gospel – John 6:60-69.
Theme: Choice for the
Eucharist as a Memorial and Community Meal!
“To live is to choose.
But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you
want to go and why you want to get there.”
- Kofi Annan.
Introduction
It was the
Existentialist Albert Camus who said, “Life is a sum of all your choices.” On
the 21st Sunday of the Year - B, the age old adage that “our
choiceseither make or mar us” comes to the fore. It is interestingto note
thatMartin Luther King Jr. began his autobiography by stating: “Of course I was
religious. I grew up in the church. My father is a preacher, my grandfather was
a preacher, my great-grandfather was a preacher, my only brother is a preacher,
my daddy’s brother is a preacher. So I didn’t have much choice.” Like King who
made a choice to serve God with his whole heart, mind, soul and strength, we
have choices to make in life.
Background
& Summary of the Readings
Our first reading (Joshua 24:1-2a.15-17.18b)
discloses Joshua’s charge to the people of Israel: “Choose this day whom you
will serve.” The most interesting part of the text is his unalloyed response to
the people: “…as for me and my household,
we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). The events leading to that declaration
puts it as one of high points in the history of the journey faith of the
Israelites. To put the homily in context, we ought to understand that the
scenario was at the end of the story of Joshua and Israel’s conquest of the
Promised Land. It was after the period of invasion and warfare when God Lord
had given rest to Israel from all their enemies and Joshua was advanced in
years (Joshua 23:1). All the tribes had gathered in Shechem where Joshua had
renewed the covenant with the people (Joshua 8:30-35).
Aware that he was going
to die soon (Joshua 23:14), Joshua had already given all the leaders of the
people his parting words with the warning that if they did not follow the law
of Moses, they would perish quickly in the good land that was given to them
(Josh. 23:16). Using the first-person narrative, he went memory lane to give
them a powerful five-point narrative of God’s presence amongst his people
thus: “I brought you out” (v. 5); “I
destroyed them before you” (v. 8); “I rescued you” (v. 10); “I sent the hornet
ahead of you” (v. 12) and “I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and
towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of
vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant” (v. 13).
He highlighted the
mighty acts God had accomplished from the time of Abraham through the conquest
of the landemphasizing the whole history of what God didfor them. He charged
them to revere, fear and serve the Lord. They had the option to serve the gods their
ancestors worshiped before the call of Abraham or Yahweh, the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. Going forward, God’s acts were to be the basis of their
perception (who God is to them) and identity (who they were to him as a
people).
In the second reading
(Ephesians 5:21:32),St. Paul makes the point that we are covenanted to Christ
as living parts of his body like the love which exists between husband and
wife. In today’s gospel, (John
6:60-69)
Jesus teaches us the importance of “making a choice for God.” When he gave what
seemed like a difficult teaching about the Eucharist, some people left him but
he did not change his teaching. In fact, he respects the choice of the apostles
by asking if they too would leave but Peter responded: “Lord, to whom shall we
go to? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Although he had brought
them this far;although he was their Lord and Master and although he had the
words of eternal life, he told them rather frankly: “This thing is not by
force. You can go if you want!”
Making
Choices: The Two Wolves & Retiring Carpenter Narratives
There is this story by
an unknown author about an old Cherokee who on a cool evening told his grandson
about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between
two “wolves” inside us all. One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow,
regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love,
hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth,
compassion, and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then
asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The
one you feed.”
In a similar
development, the story is told of an elderly carpenter who was ready to retire.
He told his employer about his plans to leave the company’s quarters.The
employer begged him for a last contract to construct a house for someone. He
reluctantly agreed but chose to do a shabby job. His employer surprised him by
giving him the house. The carpenter was shocked and said to himself, if I had
known I was building my own house, I would have made the best choices to make
it one in town. See what I have done to myself!
Pastoral
Application & Practical Lessons
I have outlined five
areas in which instead of making the choice for God in the Eucharist,
Christians make alternative choices or pay allegiance to some mundane things
which they consider as gods:
1.
Power:It is easier for people to make a deliberate choice
for power than to make a choice for God. The saying goes: “Power corrupts and
absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Some Christians are ready to kill to get
to the echelon of power but they can’t lift a finger to be connected to Jesus
in the Holy Eucharist. Notice how the disciples were eager to be in the right
and left hands of Jesus yet today we are told that some of his followers left
because they considered the teaching about the Eucharist intolerable language.A
wicked king who wielded so much power in one of the ancient kingdoms was dying.
So, he told his army to use all the military might at their disposal to protect
him from death. They surrounded his sick bed with all the sophisticated weapons
from the armory. He ordered that upon sighting death, they should shoot him in
pieces.Whenever, he coughed, he would say, he is here and they would crook
their guns. The long and short of the story is that just when he told them to
be alert because he was going to take a nap, the inevitable happened – He
joined his ancestors. The question is, what became of his power and arsenal?
