We Have Come to Believe You are the Holy One of GodRead Time 9 min

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b

Ephesians 5:21-32

John 6:60-69

The farmers markets are abundant with corn, tomatoes and every robust vegetable the earth can offer — a sure sign summer is on its way out, and autumn is rising like an orange sun over the horizon. It has been a full summer. Festivals, political conventions, State Fair, park concerts, to name just a few things. But what I loved most about this summer was the close of the National Eucharistic Congress. Not attending, I relied upon listening to the talks online.

Who could forget Mother Olga’s miracle story of baby Emma, the 1-pound preemie who thrived on the Eucharistic presence in her incubator and who now weighs 18 pounds at one year. Or Bishop Robert Barron, who parsed the attributes of poverty, chastity and obedience beyond religious life and made them relevant to all the baptized who seek to serve the Lord. He called us to detach from wealth, pleasure, power and honor. I loved especially Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, who called the Church to grow in unity so that we might become more fruitful in our mission. Then there was the popular Fr. Mike Schmitz, who took us on the Emmaus Walk, leaving us with one strong message: Repent.

The congress was like a spiritual harvest, which will go down in the history of the American Catholic Church as one of the best of times in the worst of times. The speakers were and continue to be the Catholic heroes of our day, the passionate leaders who have lived the Eucharistic life and continue to spread the faith, whether popular or not.

Reflecting upon the Scripture readings for this weekend, ending the five-week Bread of Life discourse, I asked myself, who are my heroes? Who helped stir the fire within me so that the Eucharistic Congress stole my attention over all the other summer distractions?

But more I asked myself, what are my core convictions? What would I die for? Like the martyrs of old, what do I so firmly believe in that I would not let it go even if I faced death? Joshua, this model of faith, makes it very clear. He has brought the people of Israel into the Promised Land. He is old and his days are ending. He gathers the leaders into Shechem and lays before the people the choice. “If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve, the gods of 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!”

These are more than words on a pretty banner. Joshua means it. He will not abandon the God of the Covenant, when the temptation to do so surrounds him. Could this be the Barron of today, or the Schmitz? Look around at the allurements of the world: power, prestige, money, honor? Bishop Barron shouted: “Fellow sinners, we live so much of our lives chasing after these worldly goods that will not satisfy us.”

Jesus, too, has been the spiritual model for his disciples and the apostles. In the scriptures today, he draws us into the deepest part of his heart and proclaims that the work of God is to believe in him. To believe in Jesus Christ brings us all to that invitation to eat the Lord’s Flesh and to drink his Blood. Words that are so beyond the grasp of the human mind.

And yet, that is exactly what faith is: believing in something that we will never be fully able to figure out. Then the unthinkable happens. Many of his disciples leave. Those he sent to cast out demons, to heal the sick, to take nothing for their mission but sandals and a walking stick, these very ones find what he has said too hard to accept. And with a turn of their heads, they disappeared into a history of abandonment.

But the forsaken Jesus turns to his apostles and gives them a choice, granted a couched choice: “Do you also want to leave?” It is Peter who speaks for the rest, “To whom else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Their spear is in the sand, and there is no turning back for them. Why?

“We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God!” All the speakers we heard at the Congress did not come to faith instantly nor did they come to faith without suffering. Mother Olga was abused and was subject to wars. Bishop Barron carries the burden of worldwide leadership calling him to daily accountability and much time before the Lord in adoration. Cardinal Pierre must hold up and support Pope Francis and Francis’ vision for a synodal Church. Sometimes that role is not popular, and people walk away.

They have all come to believe. They have all gambled on the reality that Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. And so must we. We cannot and must not stand outside the vision of the National Eucharistic Congress as spectators, but as believers, as the ones who will take God’s word into the farmers markets and beyond.

We are on the cusp of autumn, setting aside the things of summer. But let us never set aside what we have witnessed and come to believe in the living presence of Christ in the Eucharist.