Homily: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 25, 2024
In understanding today’s gospel it seems to me that the word of the day is “scandal.” Jesus is teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum and makes an incredible claim:
“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me…whoever eats me will live because of me…the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
These words cause unrest among the people who have been following Jesus through the countryside. They begin to grumble among themselves. Becoming aware of this, Jesus asks: “Does this offend you?” Here I would suggest that a better English equivalent to the original Greek would be “Does this scandalize you?”
In the scriptures the word scandal does include the notion of offending. But it is much more than that. Scandal is not just that which somehow upsets us, but that which becomes a stumbling block-an obstacle to faith. Here, Jesus’ teaching causes scandal:
“Many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” In response, Jesus turns to the twelve and asks the question that every believer faces on a regular basis “Do you also wish to go away?” Entertaining this question seriously-allowing ourselves to be both honest and vulnerable in doing so-shapes us as disciples and provides a necessary authenticity to whatever witness we give.
Because, the stumbling blocks are many. The scandals continue.
When the church seems to be more about exclusion than welcome
When cries for justice are ignored and the churches align themselves with the powerful rather than the poor
When church leaders ignore or coverup sexual abuse
When war is waged in God’s name
“Do you also wish to go away?”
Benedictine theologian, Joan Chittister, who has championed women and others marginalized by in the Catholic church, writes about a time she had to answer this question very directly:
“Why does a woman like you stay in the church?” a woman asked me from the depths of a dark audience years ago. “Because,” I answered, “every time I thought about leaving, I found myself thinking of oysters.” “Oysters?” she said. “What do oysters have to do with it?” “Well,” I answered her in the darkness of the huge auditorium, “I realized that an oyster is an organism that defends itself by excreting a substance to protect itself against the sand of its spawning bed. The more sand in the oyster, the more chemical the oyster produces until finally, after layer upon layer of gel, the sand turns into a pearl. And the oyster itself becomes more valuable in the process. At that moment,” I said, “I discovered the ministry of irritation.”
I love that answer. On the one hand it reminds me of how important reformers are to the Church. Without them, how will we obtain the pearl of great price?
But I also find it helpful on a personal level.
For all that I struggle to understand and to live consistently the teachings of Jesus
In all those moments where I find church institutions and leaders infuriating
When I find myself losing hope and sinking into despair
There are grains of sand in the scriptures, in this community and in the larger world that keep me from getting too comfortable in whatever state I am in. They call me out of myself and push me into pearl-making.
Words spoken in a church, at a convention or in a conversation that touch, comfort and inspire.
The friend whose example or invitation entangles me is some good work.
The quiet moment where God reminds me that mysteries are mysteries. My job is not to understand but to enter them.
In responding to these grains of sand my answer to the question “do you also wish to go away?” is formed.
“Teacher, where else would I go?”