This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
21st Sunday of Ordinary YearMy Everyday…… Amen!Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Eph 5:21-32; Jn 6: 60-69Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, I am delighted to join you to celebrate this Eucharistic Celebration. We are completing the last series of discourse this Sunday. I am sure our faith and understanding of Eucharist has deepened over the past five weeks. We have a great task: to live and bear witness to Our Eucharistic Lord in our daily life, with friends and strangers. The task placed before us is to make our faith response constant and daily. That is none other than a faithful and truthful Amen or Yes. Let our response flow from our spirit of conviction and commitment. “How many priests are in your Parish?” The boy responded saying, “we have three priests.” “Do you know their names?” The boy was quick is saying, “yes, they are Fr. Alleluia, Fr. Praise the Lord and Fr. Amen.” “Why do your call them like this, don’t they have their names?” The answer given was, “they use this more than anything.” We use Amen a number of times in the Eucharist…do we mean what we utter? Am I am even aware of my Amen responses? In secular reference it is saying a complete and total “Yes” willingly and voluntarily.How meaningful is my yes on a daily basis, and in my life? I said yes to my wife once on the wedding day now I struggle to keep up in my daily life! I offered my special yes to my children in the early days of their birthdays, but now it is not possible! We make time for a work-out and walk regularly for a few weeks, but we lack consistency! Youth stop saying yes to Sunday Eucharist after their Sacrament of Confirmation! Some take a long break from Sunday Eucharist after their retreats and parish feast days! Politicians say Yes to people before the elections….and say Amen to only party leaders after being elected! The readings invite us to examine our Yes and decisions in the light of today’s liturgy. In the first reading we have words of choice placed before the people by Joshua. Why and what are the choices and decisions wanted by Joshua? After Moses, it was Joshua who was journeying, leading the people to the Promised Land. We know that Moses just saw the Promised Land from far, yet he could not lead his people. His Sinai Covenant with Yahweh was not practiced by his followers and descendants. The following generation forgot the Sinai Covenant and the leadership of Moses, and they became divided into tribes. They worshipped God as per the territory; when their place of Canaan was captured and ruled by Amorites, they turned to the Amorite gods, Maduruk, Ba’al and Astarte to worship, forgetting about God. Joshua questioned and challenged their practice of following pagan gods, he also brought back the memory of their ancestors’ experience of God of Yahweh. Joshua invites the people of Israel to make their choice of Yahweh who was the only God they knew and experienced personally and as community. The People of God had to choose between the gods of the recently conquered and the recently entered country, or choose the God of their ancestors who was worshipped and followed beyond Egypt. Joshua elaborated the choice and life of their ancestors. Shechem, their gathering place, is symbolic in the meaning of gathering; this land was 40 miles North of Jerusalem, where God had first appeared to Abraham and promised to make his descendants a great nation (Genesis 12:6ff and 33:18ff). It was a fitting place for the renewal of the Covenant. Joshua reminded the people of what God had done for them, in rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, providing for their survival in the desert and giving them victory over their enemies. God had been their Deliverer, Provider and Protector. Shechem means shouldering, He shouldered People of Israel. So Joshua, while challenging the people to make a clear and willing yes to Yahweh, he initiated his renewal of choice by proclaiming “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord of Yahweh.” John’s discourse on food, flesh and Eucharist concludes in today’s Gospel passage. John is giving this response of Jesus to His 72 disciples to the troubled Jewish troubled community. The three "scandals" or stumbling blocks which prevent belief for many of the Jew are: The first was the expectation at the feeding of the multitude that Jesus was going to be a nationalistic military leader who would become their king and defeat the Romans. The second was the refusal to accept His divine nature in John 6:41-43. The third was the demand that we must consume Jesus as a sacrifice, Body and Blood. Their Jewish understanding was that to consume flesh and blood would cut them off from the Old Covenant community. But Jesus is not speaking about His human flesh. In the Holy Eucharist, believers are eating Christ’s glorified Body and drinking His glorified Blood. After His Resurrection and Ascension, the Old Covenant will be fulfilled and transformed. All blood/animal sacrifices will be fulfilled in Jesus' one perfect sacrifice, and the sacred meal of the communion Todah, the "thanksgiving" sacrifice of praise in a sacred meal, in the presence of God, will continue in the Eucharist (from the Greek for "thanksgiving"). It is only with Faith that they will be able to see and grasp the triple mystery which has been revealed to them, namely, (1) the Incarnation (I am the Bread that came down from Heaven, 6:41); (2) the redemption (the Bread that I give is my Flesh for the life of the world, 6:51); (3) the Ascension and glorification (the Son of Man will ascend to where he was before). Master, to whom we shall go? You have the words of eternal life,” reflects the faith-filled, free and whole-hearted decision of the early Christian community to follow Jesus and His teaching. While giving Holy Communion, the priest says, "The Body of Christ" and we respond with a total, “Amen” or "Yes!" This “Yes!” is not just an act of Faith in the Real Presence, but a total commitment of myself to Jesus in the community of which I am a member. In 2013, Julie Aftab was only 26-years-old, but she’s seen more trauma and tragedy than most individuals her age. Twelve years ago, while she was living in Pakistan and working as an operator in a tiny office, she was brutally attacked with acid. He promptly threw a bottle of battery acid on the teenager, burning her face and body instantly. When she tried to escape, a second man grabbed her her and poured the dangerous substance down her throat. “Even the people who took me to the hospital. They told the doctor they were going to set the hospital on fire if they treated me. ”The incident left her with lasting scars and in need of intense medical treatment. Today, she has rebuilt her life in Houston, Texas, and speaking out about the horror she endured. In an interview with The Houston Chronicle, Aftab recounts the events that led to the vicious assault she faced at the tender age of 16. One day, while she was working at an office in Pakistan, she recalls a man coming in and asking if she was a Christian (he noticed a cross necklace she was wearing). When she responded “yes,” he began to yell at her, claiming that she was hell-bound for refusing to embrace Islam. When she arrived for treatment, doctors refused to help her — because she was a Christian. Today, she is filled with thanksgiving and gratefulness. “Maybe those doctors don’t know what they did. Maybe they think they just did their jobs,” Aftab told the Chronicle. “But for me, they gave me a life.” Now, she calls her scars, “my jewel, my gift from God.” Shall we say our Amen consciously! I am part of Jesus body. Church and community? Julie’s yes may inspire us to make our Amen meaningful and truthful. Let our Yes in our daily life bear witness to Christ-Amen. 
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