“This saying is hard, who can accept it?” is what the apostles say after hearing Jesus say, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (cf. John 6:60 and John 6:56)
The Eucharist is Hard to Accept
This phrase appears in the Gospel reading this Sunday in John 6 which we have been reading for a few weeks now. John 6 contains the bread of life discourse where Jesus teaches about the Eucharist.
This Sunday we hear about how this teaching was received.
The apostles questioned whether Jesus was really teaching them to eat his body, and Jesus replied “Does this shock you?” (John 6:61) He continues to explain that there is a lot that may shock them, as He is God and he could even ascend to heaven before them.
Many disciples left due to this teaching, and Jesus inquired if his apostles would also leave. Peter was the one to reply, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) This is a beautiful recognition from our first Pope. He recognized the reality that God is above the physical world, and that we can trust Him even when reality is beyond our understanding. Acceptance that we do not always understand is a true example of humility.
Marriage Can Be Hard to Accept
The second reading this Sunday is from Ephesians 5. This letter of St. Paul, and particularly this chapter, can be another passage that makes people say, “This saying is hard, who can accept it?”
“Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is head of his wife
just as Christ is head of the church,
he himself the savior of the body.
As the church is subordinate to Christ,
so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,”
Last weekend, we attended a wedding that also included this reading as they often do. It is a great reminder of the commitment that spouses make to each other.
This reading can be hard for two reasons: the first is if the reading is misread, and the second is because it truly is not easy.
The Misreading of Ephesians 5
Any time people get upset by the reading of Ephesians 5, it is because this passage has been used out of context in order to try to say that wives are lesser than their husbands.
People can misinterpret “subordinate” to mean that husbands can be lazy bosses and just tell their spouses what to do. Many priests in homilies will be pointing out that to “sub-ordinate” is to be “under the mission of” or “in the same direction” as your spouse. This is a good clarification and fun fact, but we could also just keep reading.
St. Paul’s very next words explain what he is intending for spouses.
The True Difficulty to Accept Ephesians 5
This whole condition of wives being subordinate to husbands depends on the condition and expectation that husbands will be acting “As Christ loved the Church”.
Paul repeats this intention in Ephesians 5:32.
“This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.”
So the difficulty should not arise from wives feeling less than their husbands. I can’t imagine any wife being upset because their husband treated them how Christ treated the Church. He loved the Church to the point of death, laying down his life for her and thus saving her for eternity.
The true difficulty of Ephesians 5 should instead lay with the husbands. This is truly a hard teaching to accept. “How am I expected to live up to such a high call?” is what men should be asking themselves.
Humility and Trust in Psalm 34
These teaching from the Gospel and second reading are difficult; however, we are prepared with these words of the psalm.
“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”
The Psalm right before these teachings tells me that there is Goodness where there is God. This means we can be like Peter and trust in what God wants for us, based on the history of His Goodness in our lives, even if it is hard to understand.
Decide Today Whom You Will Serve
Working backwards, we lastly have the first reading to tie into what the Church is giving us to pray with this week.
The first reading is an inspiring address from Joshua to God’s people in the tribes of Israel:
“Joshua addressed all the people:
‘If it does not please you to serve the LORD,
decide today whom you will serve,
the gods 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.'”
Joshua’s call to the tribes of Israel can apply to ourselves whenever we encounter a hard teaching. We need to decide whom we will serve each day. I love his response too, that regardless of response from around him, Joshua’s household will serve the Lord.
Then the people reply:
“‘Far be it from us to forsake the LORD
…Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.'”
Echoing (or rather foreshadowing) Peter’s response to Jesus, the people show humility, trust in God’s goodness, and commit to follow the Lord.
Even when we cannot fathom how God makes himself present in bread and wine, we can say “We will serve the Lord.” If we don’t understand how we are to lay our lives down for our spouse as Christ did for the Church, we can still say, “To whom else would I go?” Even if we cannot do it on our own, we can trust in God’s assistance and his Goodness that He wants for us and ask Him to lead us closer to Him.
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