Throughout our lives, we hear many words and speeches. Most of what we hear, as we often say, goes in one ear and out the other. There are few words we hear that leave a strong impact on us, such that we remember them. I remember when we were in the seminary, the Servant of God, Father Mikiel Attard, used to tell us: "In life, you have to take a risk: either you believe what someone says, perhaps a writer, singer, famous person, scientist, etc., or you believe what your own mind tells you – and many do this today – or you believe what Jesus says, and this is Faith." Father Mikiel was so right. If in life, you pretend to understand everything, you will end up losing Faith. On the other hand, Faith means taking a risk on the Word of Jesus.
In today's first reading, we see how Joshua, after bringing the people into the Promised Land by the power of God, gathers all the people and presents them with an important choice: "If you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." This is the greatest choice a person must make in life, namely, the choice of whom to serve. In life, every person must have a god – either they choose someone else, whoever it may be, as their god, or they make themselves a god, or they make the best choice they can make, that is, to choose the God of Jesus Christ as their God. This choice makes a huge difference in our lives: all false gods, sooner or later, will enslave and destroy us. The True God, the living God, is the only God who truly makes us free, a God who loves us so much that He gives Himself for us.
In today's Gospel, we read the last passage from Chapter 6 of the Gospel according to John. Over the last five Sundays, we have read the entire chapter. After explaining His difficult and new teaching to the people and His disciples, Jesus now puts before them a choice or challenge: "Do you also wish to go away?" Jesus was so convinced of what He had just taught the crowd that He was even ready to lose His Apostles but would not change His teaching. Even today, before this God who loves us so much that He wants to offer us His Son in the Eucharist, many still turn away; others show little interest, or they never make this most fundamental decision of life, namely, whether they want to accept this gift of God or not. May today and every day, we say to Him from our hearts, along with Peter: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
In the second reading today, Saint Paul continues to tell us that the life of a Christian, or rather of those who are nourished by the Word, the Body, and the Blood of the Lord in the Mass, must be summed up in one word, namely, LOVE. As Jesus gives Himself to us in the Eucharist, so we, whatever our vocation may be, if we truly want to live the Eucharist, must give ourselves to one another in love. Only in this way does the Eucharist fulfill its purpose, and only in this way do we truly live what we celebrate every time we participate in the Mass. We ask ourselves: Have I made the choice between the True God and false gods, or am I still pretending to live with one foot with God and one foot with the world? When faced with what the world says, what my mind tells me, and what Jesus tells me, whom do I choose to believe?
Lord, today, from the depths of our hearts, we wish to say thank you for what you have done for us when, through the sacrament of the Eucharist, you made it possible for us to become one with the mystery of your Life, Death, and Resurrection. We wish to say that the greatest grace you can give us is that we may understand and cherish this gift from our hearts and live it until our last breath.
Amen.
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