God's Grating Words
by Tom and April Hoopes in Faith on Saturday, August 22, 2009 6:00 AM
(In this weekly column, Tom and April Hoopes share family-friendly ways of observing the liturgical year and celebrating the Sunday readings.)
Aug. 23 Readings
Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18; Psalm 34:2-3, 16-23; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69
Our Take
“Lord, to whom shall we go?”
That’s the phrase that echoes through today’s readings.
Peter says that when he explains why he’s not leaving Jesus like the multitudes who are streaming away from Jesus at the time. They are scandalized by what Jesus has said: They must eat his flesh and drink his blood. Such a command was totally contrary to the culture’s expectations — and they refused to entertain the thought that it might mean something less harsh than what it seemed to mean.
Peter’s answer amounts to a very laudable Catholic intellectual posture: faith seeking understanding (the definition of theology). He doesn’t understand what Jesus wants, but he’s willing to accept what Jesus says, given who Jesus is, while he tries to figure it out.
In our culture, what St. Paul says in the second reading has very much the effect that Jesus’ words about the Eucharist had. St. Paul exhorts women to “be submissive” to their husbands. That grates to modern ears. It sounds like sexism. It sounds like some kind of oppression.
But have we considered that it might mean something less harsh than what it seems to mean? Submission does not mean inequality. It often means the contrary.
Recently, Pope Benedict XVI broke his wrist at night and didn’t tell anybody, and the next morning he didn’t want to go to the doctor. But when his handlers insisted, he submitted. It’s a good thing, too. The Pope is too valuable to be left without someone to help and direct him in such matters.
Presidents have to be submissive to Secret Service agents; business tycoons have to be submissive to accountants; rock stars have to be submissive to managers. That points to a complementarity of roles, not a hierarchy.
When God says something we don’t understand, our response should be Peter’s, or that of Joshua’s men in the first reading. When given the option to leave, they said: No. God has blessed us throughout our lives. We may not understand what he is saying, but we are true to who we know he is.
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
