Dear Friends,
This weekend’s Gospel stands out as a pivotal moment that highlights the essence of faith, discipleship, and the challenge of understanding Jesus’ teachings. Since over these past few weeks we have been reading about Jesus being the Bread of Eternal Life and the challenges the disciples had with His words, I would like to make this week’s reflection about our understanding of discipleship.
To fully appreciate John 6:60-69, context is key. In the preceding verses, Jesus has just delivered a challenging sermon in which He declares, “I am the bread of life.” He elaborates that His body is the true food and His blood is the true drink, emphasizing that eating His flesh and drinking His blood are essential for eternal life. This metaphorical language shocks many of His followers, leading to confusion and even disbelief. Many of His disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this shock you? Then, what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”
The difficulty of Jesus’ teaching leads many disciples to abandon Him. This verse illustrates the challenge of discipleship, which requires not just adherence to teachings but a deep, transformative faith. The abandonment of these followers highlights the separation between those who seek a superficial understanding of Jesus and those who are willing to embrace His deeper, more demanding message. Jesus’ teachings are not for the faint of heart. Resurrection does not happen without suffering and death.
This was especially true for my seven classmates and I during our five years of diaconal formation. We all have our own story on how we came to follow Jesus. What we soon discovered, perhaps like many of you, was that we were going to have to deal with the hard truths of Jesus’s teaching. Would we be able to accept them? There were many obstacles and life lessons from our formation, but the most important understanding each of us had to have was keeping our faith in our loving God, knowing throughout this journey there would be many challenges.
What were we willing to set aside to continue to follow the call? It involved learning from Jesus, imitating His life, and striving to live more like Him. It required leaving behind the comforts of daily life and putting the needs of others first. This is all part of discipleship for every follower of Christ. Being a disciple is not easy. We cannot do it on our own–Jesus knows that. That is why we have the Bread of Life–His presence, in us, to help us go out into the world and spread His message of mercy, love and forgiveness. That is why we are the Body of Christ–many members, yet one body. We need each other to help us along on our journey as disciples.
John 6:60-69 is a critical passage for understanding true discipleship involves grappling with difficult teachings and remaining committed to Jesus. It underscores the necessity of faith in recognizing Jesus as the source of eternal life and divine truth. The passage challenges believers to move beyond their surface-level understanding and engage deeply with the message of Christ.
This Gospel reading serves as a profound exploration of faith, discipleship, and the essence of Jesus’ teachings. It invites us to reflect on own responses to the challenging aspects of Jesus’ message and to reaffirm our commitment to following Him, recognizing Him as the ultimate source of spiritual sustenance and eternal life. So, I ask you, how are we going to grow in our commitment to continue being a disciple of Christ?
Peace of Christ,
Deacon Ray
