Today’s readings are full of timeless one-liners in the Christian playbook. Joshua makes the iconic declaration that “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Paul makes the endlessly frustrating metaphor comparing the relationship between member and Church to a marriage and announcing, much to the chagrin of feminists everywhere (this writer included), “wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.” And Jesus announces to the crowd complaining about the challenges of his dictates that “the words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” As a lifelong mass-goer, I recognize each of these readings as old acquaintances. They are quintessential ordinary time, and I have two thoughts on what they have to share with us.
First, these readings remind us that faith begins as a choice. There is no mandate to follow Jesus, to pursue justice and peace in his name; those who follow Christ choose to do so in each of their days. It is not easy to believe or to behave in response to that belief; if it was, it would require neither Joshua’s firm declaration about his family’s choice nor Paul’s difficult metaphor, which even he acknowledges as “a great mystery.” Faith must be chosen and then pursued, and that pursuit is not easy.
Jesus knows this; after “many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him,” he turns to the apostles and asks “Do you also want to leave?” This question leads to my second observation: faith transforms from a choice to a path.
Peter’s answer perfectly articulates this transformation. He responds to Jesus’s question with a rhetorical question, asking “to whom shall we go?” This question proves the dimension of his faith; he doesn’t say “yes, I want to leave” or “no, I want to stay” – he articulates perfectly how his faith has transformed into an inherent, intuitive way of being. Peter then answers his own question by declaring “we have come to believe that you are the Holy One of God.” He knows that faith doesn’t happen on accident, nor does it happen overnight; the apostles, with time, practice, and Jesus’s “words of Spirit and life”, have turned that faith into their very existence.
Our world poses many challenges to faith; we are daily bombarded with stories and images that reveal the presence of evil in our midst. Our own lives feature trials and obstacles that would poke holes in our faith. Today’s readings show us how to choose faith courageously and how, with time and practice, that faith becomes something new, a path unto our feet.
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