SUNDAY, TWENTY FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Jos 24: 1-2, 15-18 Ps 34:2-3,16-23 Eph 5:21-32 Jn 6: 60-69
EXPECTATIONAL OR COMMITTED CHRISTIANITY
When we look at the history of Christianity and the way the people down the centuries have lived their faith, we come across two types of Christians: Expectational Christians and Committed Christians.
The Expectational Christians are the ones who followed Christianity by asking a simple question: what would I get by following this type of faith? They followed the Christian lifestyle primarily not because they had deep faith in God or the tenets of Christian faith, but for the simple reason that following that faith either it satisfied their basic desire to belong to a religion or it fulfilled their external expectations. Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher calls such Christian living of his times Christendom. It was an external lifestyle, a fad, a fashion and an external manifestation of a few rituals and rubrics, while observing they were satisfied their conscience to be true Christians. In other words, they belonged to a socially oriented kingdom called Christianity. Kierkegaard contrasts this populist version of Christianity by inviting people to live by “leap of Faith” or committed Christianity.
The Committed Christians, on the other hand, are people who have understood the meaning of being a Christian. Their commitments come because of their deep convictions of what they follow and the deep love that proceed from these convictions. In good times or in bad times, they remain faithful to God and if need be, even ready to give their lives for Christ as martyrs because they love and worship him and make him the saviour of their lives.
In the first reading of today, Joshua who took over his mantle from Moses as the leader of the people of Israel on their journey to the promised land requests the people to make a renewed commitment to the God of Yahweh. He says, “as for me and my family, we will follow the Lord.” The people respond to Joshua with their inner convictions that their God brought them and their ancestors out of slavery in Egypt, stood by them, protected them and nurtured them and therefore there is no single reason why they should not follow Him. They renew their commitments to their God.
The gospel of today narrates the two types of people whom we mentioned above. Jesus had told the crowd that they followed Him not because they believed in Him but because they had seen the signs, because he had fed them with bread. They knew as long as he worked miracles, they stood to gain by being with Him. However, when Jesus begins to speak the deeper truths of life especially concerning himself that he is the Son of God and what he can do for them if they believe him to be the Son of God, it goes beyond their comprehension and therefore they reject him and move away from him. At this juncture, he asks his disciples regarding their response. And it is Peter standing for the faith of the entire Catholic Church that responds: “Master where shall we go, we have left everything and followed you because we have come to believe that you the Christ, the Son of God.”
“We believe and we are convinced,” that is the foundation of our faith. It is only this deep faith and inner conviction that helps us to live a life, a life worthy of our call. All our commitments are founded on that faith and convictions alone. The second reading of today is the manifestation of this deep faith and inner conviction. It is the bonding of life between Jesus and the Christian through the commitment of his life to live for Jesus alone that would help him to live a life worthy of his call in a family and in society. The boding of love between husband and wife and the mutual love and respect between them is the manifestation of that bonding of faith between them and Christ.
Where do we stand today in the practice of our Christian Faith? To which category of people do we belong? How deep is our faith and how deep are our convictions? It is a time to make a renewed commitment to the Lord and our faith.
Response: Taste and see that the Lord is good.
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