It’s Time To Make Up Your Mind!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, August 22, 2021

In the first reading (Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b), Joshua, the successor of Moses and leader of the Jews takes us straight to Shechem. At Shechem, he gathers all the tribes of Israel. He invites their elders, leaders, judges, and officers. During the leadership of Moses, Joshua had seen his people serve the Lord one day and the next day turn to the gods their new neighbors serve. He had seen them switch back and forth. He’s fed up with it. He’s no longer going to tolerate their spiritual and religious inconsistencies. As they were about to finally enter the Promised Land, Joshua addresses the people with these famous words: “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. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” At the end of his riveting and inspiring sermon, the people respond that they will not leave the Lord. Why? Because it is the Lord who brought them out of the land of slavery in Egypt, who performed great miracles for them, who provided food and water for them in the desert, and continued to protect and defend them against nations that tried to attack them. Due to the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness to them, they like Joshua declare, “…we will also serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

In the Gospel (John 6:60-69), John takes us to Capernaum, the city of Jesus. Today’s Gospel is the continuation of the Eucharistic Discourse of John 6. In the preceding passage, Jesus insists that unless his disciples eat his flesh and drink his blood, they have no life within them. When Jesus sees that they were struggling to accept his teaching, he raises the temperature: “What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” After laying down this new teaching, this new marker, many of his followers turned back and will not go with him anymore. They said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” (John 6:60). After they left, Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks, “Do you also want to leave?” (John 6:67). Speaking on behalf of the Twelve, Peter replied, “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.” 

What is the spiritual lesson? It does not take much to see that both the first reading and the Gospel is about decision. It is about making up our mind. People who are spiritually attentive know that at some point or another, we all have served different gods. We have served the various gods of where we live and where we work. For instance, there are some immigrants from Africa who were deeply godly when they were back in Africa. Back in Africa, they loved and served God sincerely and wholeheartedly. But upon settling in Europe or America, they become less and less godly. They adopt and worship the gods that their new neighbors and coworkers serve which are money, power, vain-glory and good opinion of those who have what they want. Last year, I came across a very sad but true post on social media that asked, “Why do Nigerians become less religious when they travel overseas?” Let’s face the fact, at some point in our lives or even presently, we have served or are serving other gods. For some of us, politics, tribe/race, organization or group we belong to etc. are our gods. Now, participation in politics is a good and necessary thing. But then even good things can be turned into idols. When we become absorbed and enslaved by things that were once good and sensible, we lose touch with the Lord. I have said before that the only “addiction” that is permitted is addiction to the Lord, which means loving and serving him firmly, wholeheartedly and unreservedly. Believing in a particular politician is okay. However, as Christians, we must know that no particular political party completely defines us. None of the political parties is flawless. Each of them has something we like and something we despise. They have something that Jesus upholds and something that Jesus condemns. As such, our deeper identity and loyalty should be something else. Our deeper allegiance, over and over gain should be something else— the Lord. 

Today, Joshua invites us to choose whom we serve. I believe that our presence here means we have chosen the Lord. But we also know that our choice hasn’t always determine all the decisions we have made over the years. So, we are being invited to choose again whom we serve. The choice you make today should determine your decisions going forward. It should determine where you will go, where you will be today, tomorrow and next week, next month and next year. When we choose God, God will set the direction. When we choose God, that helps us choose our life-work. For those who are still single, it will help you choose your husband or wife. When we choose God, it helps us decide how to raise our children. And when we choose God, God will bless us. According to C. S. Lewis, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done; and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” If we say to God, “Thy will be done,” there is sweet and juicy fruits to reap. But if God says to us, “Thy will be done” that is have it your own way, there is price to pay. Like Joshua, Jesus is also asking us, “Do you also want to leave?” Do you believe that Jesus is uniquely present Body, Soul and Divinity in the Sacramental Bread? Do you believe that the Eucharist is not a mere sign or symbol, rather, Jesus of Nazareth? Do you believe that the same Jesus who was born by Mary, who went about doing good, who was strongly opposed by the Pharisees and chief priests, who healed the sick, raised the dead, preached powerfully God’s love and plan for the human race, the same Jesus who was crucified, who died and is now risen is supremely present in the Eucharist? Do you believe that he is personally and actively present in what we receive at Mass? During consecration, the substance of the bread and wine changes and become the Body and Blood of the Lord. Believe this strongly because Jesus said so. The choice you make today will determine your tomorrow and potentially your eternal destiny. 

God bless you!