Scripture Reading: Gospel of John 6:60-69
Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?"
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them,
"Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe."
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." (JN 6:60-69)
Reflection
In today’s gospel there is a significant distinction between two types of disciples: those who say; “this is too hard; who can accept it” or the others who say; “we have come to believe”.
As followers of Christ, which type of disciple are you? That is a question we all need to ask ourselves. Especially, in a world that rejects Christ. We too get rejected (never a pleasant feeling). At that moment, do we say, “this is too hard” and return to our own way of life or do we bounce back and continue to follow Christ. It is a narrow road, the way He walks. He did warn us,
“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first” (John 15:18)
So, why would we want to travel the road where the world hates us? Because we look up to our God in Heaven and our goal is to be with Him in Heaven. Not to look down on Earth and to implant ourselves forever deeper into a world that we were not created for. We are just passing by as pilgrims.
Let us pray;
O Lord, remind us
We are not made for this world
We are made for You
Amen
