The Word of Everlasting Life: John 6: 60 - 69

In one Marriage Encounter the facilitator asked his audience the question, "Which is more valuable, your spouse or your money?" A man stood up and said, "Money is more valuable because it earns interest as time goes by, while a spouse loses interest as time goes by".

After the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, people fed by Jesus followed him because they thought they have found the solution to their problems. That is why they were running after Jesus to make him their king. And towards the end of the bread of life discourse he revealed to them that he is the bread of life that came down from heaven. That his flesh is true food and his blood if true drink. And he continued saying, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, there is no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him".

Because of this statement of Jesus many of his disciples complained and said, " this is too hard to accept, who can bear all this?" And they began to leave him and returned to their former way of life.

The attitudes of the disciples who left Jesus reflects our own attitudes. Many times in our lives as Christians we, too, question the many teachings of the Church especially it it goes contrary to our desires and wishes. There are many tenets of the Church that we frown upon, or we are oppose to them, sometimes even violently and say, "why the Church leaders interferes in the live of people?" Especially if we talk about laws against abortion, divorce, contraceptives, and same - sex marriages and other moral issues regarding human life. Many time I hear people say, "why dont these priests confine themselves in their convents and just pray?" Or people say, "as if these religious are sinless?" Or other statements to that effect.

As a priest, I for one knows fully well that I have my own weaknesses, or imperfections or wickedness, but the teachings I am imparting are not my own but they are God's. Even if I myself is a sinner, I have the responsibility to say what is right or wrong, even if my listeners do not like what I say.

It's a pity and it saddens me if some members of the Church falls away from the Church because they cant accept the teachings of the Church. But as it is we need to take a stand for what is right, just and true.

When most of those who followed Jesus left, he turned to the twelve apostles and asked them, "do also wish to go away?" Peter answered in behalf of the group, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God". What a way of invoking a lively faith in Jesus. Truly, there is no one we can turn to except God in good times and in bad. It is only in God that we can find true peace and happiness. St. Augustine said it beautifully in his book Late Have I Loved Thee when he said, "My heart is restless, until they rest in Thee, my God.

If and when we are tempted to free ourselves from God, remember that even if the world offers us a lot of solutions to our problems, there is still nothing that is certain than to cling to God. Hopefully, we could also say as Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You are our life everlasting!" Amen.

Reflections on today's reading: A Brother Who Sins

Once I entered a Chinese Restaurant, a caption at the entrance caught my attention. The saying goes this way, "If you are happy and satisfied with our food and service please tell it to others, but if not please come tell it to us."

In the gospel reading today, Jesus reminds us that if a brother sins against us we need to win back that brother. And Jesus gives three steps on how we win our brother back.

First, we need to go and point his fault to him alone. In this way his dignity and pride his protected. And to avoid deeper misunderstanding.

Second, if he does not listen to you, bring two or three witnesses. In the Old Testament a person can only be acused of a crime if there are two or three witnesses. The two or three persons must be trusted by both the acused and the acuser.

If using the first two steps fail, then bring the case to the community. The local community or local church has given by Jesus the authority whom to include or to expel in the community.

But, we have to remember that we need to exert extra effort to win our brother back. They say that it is easier to judge others than to judge onself may be applied here. This means that we need to bear in mind that we, too, like our brother had sinned in one way or the other. That is why, we also be ready and willing to extend forgiveness.