22/08/2021

The people listened to Joshua and agreed to join him in recognising the Lord as the only true God. They would abandon worship of any other deity local or foreign. This solemn assertion by the whole people in the sight of God proved to be too much for them as time passed.

The nuptial image of Christ's Church is not just obedience (though many object because of this) but sacrifice. Husbands must be ready to sacrifice anything for the love of a wife. Christ is to be obeyed by the Church created by his Cross. He is worthy of obedience and a husband too should strive to be worthy of loving obedience. The nuptial bond is as much a mystery as our very being; it is the same as the bond between Christ and his Church and thus is created the one body; Christ's mystical body, our Church. This is the solemn teaching of our Church. Is it proving to be too much for us?

The people stayed with him a long time; they had been overawed by the miracle of the feeding of the5000. Some had seen him walking on the water; all had been enthralled by his charismatic presence and some had listened to his words. As Jesus had anticipated, some of the some who had listened were not at all impressed. . He knew that what he was going to say would not be welcomed as good news. He knew this but did not water down his message to avoid giving offence. 

Many of Jesus teachings are hard to accept even to the extent that the human weakness of some of our pastors doesn't allow them to be true to God's words. His words in all their complexity and stark reality are indeed "the message of eternal life".  Peter's powerful acclamation of the Lord proves to be too much for him  to continuously live up to; nevertheless, we get a glimpse of the vastness of God's loving Mercy in the subsequent events of his  life and especially in its ending.

Dear Lord may the words of my Baptismal renunciations be with me for the rest of my days. Let me live up to the cleansing of that moment and never fail to be open to the promptings of The Holy Spirit.