Sunday Sermon for August 25, 2024, the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Readings: Josh 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Eph 5:21-32; Jn 6:60-69
In the Gospel reading today, we hear about many of our Lord’s disciples who, when our Lord spoke to them about the Holy Eucharist and that they had to eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Due to their inability to accept this teaching, many of our Lord’s disciples “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him.” To add a very prominent exclamation mark to the importance of this teaching, our Lord asked His Apostles if they wanted to leave Him as well.
St. Peter responded that our Lord has the words of eternal life and the Apostles had come to believe He is the Holy One of God. Even though this teaching was hard, those closest to our Lord accepted it because they had faith that Jesus is God and, therefore, His words are true and life-giving.
We must note that the Apostles often failed to understand the meaning of our Lord’s parables. When this occurred, Jesus would take them aside and explain the meaning to them in private. In this case, our Lord was not using a parable and there is no explanation. What He said was clear and direct; the people understood what He said and our Lord allowed them to leave Him if they would not accept what He taught.
I find it interesting that in the readings today we have two of the most rejected and misunderstood teachings in Scripture. We have the teaching regarding the Holy Eucharist in the Gospel and the teaching regarding Holy Matrimony in the second reading. These are the two sacraments most closely related symbolically. By this I do not mean that these sacraments are merely symbolic; rather, the truth of each can be expressed by the symbolism inherent in the sacrament.
For instance, in both sacraments we have a total giving and a total receiving of a person. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives Himself to the Church, His bride, and the Church receives His gift of self. The Church returns that gift of self in the sacrifice of the Mass where our Lord is made present in the Eucharist. In marriage, each person gives himself or herself to the other and is received by the other. The disposition of pure love in the sacrifice of our Lord and the Church is to be mirrored in the pure love a married couple has for each other. St. Paul even states that the marriage of a Christian man and woman is a great mystery that is understood only in reference to the union of Christ and the Church.
In both sacraments we have a sacrifice of a person. Jesus gave His life to the Church and the Church receives that life as her own and then gives that life, her life, back to Him. A husband gives his life to his wife, then she receives that gift and gives her life to him in return. There is a dying to self and a reception of new life from one’s spouse. In other words, there is a death and a resurrection that occurs in this exchange of the total gift of self.
In both sacraments the two become one. As Jesus and the Church are one; a husband and wife are one. When Jesus raised marriage to the level of a sacrament, He made Holy Matrimony different from marriage on the natural level. Jesus Himself stated, when asked about divorce, that what God has united, man cannot put asunder. God unites the souls of the couple on the day they enter a sacramental marriage. They are not merely one flesh; the two become one in a bond that ends only with death.
We recall that the Apostles even struggled with this teaching and suggested it would be better not to marry. However, for those who are called to this holy vocation, they understand this is the way God has chosen to make them saints. Each is called to be a saint, to help the other to become a saint, and to raise up new saints for the Lord. A saint is someone who is like God. Jesus showed us the way to holiness by carrying His Cross and being crucified. This is the call of every married person. The cross in marriage is one’s spouse. Of course, we know the cross is not the end, but the resurrection comes. This is hard, but it is truth and life. Jesus does not abandon us, but gives us Himself in the Eucharist to help us. Jesus allowed many to walk away because they did not accept His teaching. As Joshua challenged the people in the first reading, choose today whom you will serve. Jesus is God and He speaks the words of eternal life.
Fr. Altier’s column appears regularly in The Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly published in St. Paul, Minn. For information about subscribing to The Wanderer, please visit www.thewandererpress.com.
