Reflection for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – B

“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.”

This is one of the clearest and greatest professions of faith in the Gospel. It went to the heart of who Jesus was and what he was about. He was not just a teacher or healer or prophet. He was the Holy One of God. Later the first Christians came to believe that he was, in fact, the Son of God.

As for what he was about. Though he healed and fed the bodies of people, his main concern was to nourish their minds and hearts with what Peter so rightly called ‘the words of eternal life.’ His words truly brought life to people. Here are some examples of the kind of words he spoke to people.

“Go in peace, your sins are forgiven.” With these words he set sinners free.

To the people he said, “I am the bread of life. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.” Who would not want to eat of this bread?

Again he said, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will always have the light of life.” The light of Jesus was such that no darkness, not even that of death, could overpower it.

To the Jewish leaders he said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and they follow me. I give them eternal life.”

To the Martha and Mary he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will never die.”

On one occasion the religious leaders sent the temple guards to arrest him. But they never laid a hand on him. Instead, they were fascinated by his teaching. Even they recognized that Jesus’ words were special, and went back to their masters and declared, “No one ever spoke like this man speaks.”

Jesus truly has the words of eternal life. And all these words of Jesus have been preserved for us in the Gospels. Each Sunday we are invited to listen to them, to be reassured by them.

“Will you also leave me?” These words are now addressed to us. It’s not the Lord who leaves us, but we who may leave him. Many still do so.

We need to make our own Peter’s profession of faith: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.‘ We have done so. Our presence here is a sign of that. But we need to reaffirm our commitment, just as the Israelites did on taking possession of the Promised Land. Every Sunday we get a chance to do this. We need the Lord to strengthen our faith. We also need to confirm one another.

Eternal life is not something that lies in the future. It has already begun in Baptism. Its full flowering is still to come. It is something we accept on the word of Jesus.