Homily, August 25, 2024
From The Pastor
I am convinced that Jesus is the holy one of God. With conviction and confidence I claim and accept Jesus as the Christ sent into the world by God for its redemption and reconciliation from the death of sin. I make this conviction of faith in the awareness of my dependence on the mercy and justice of God in light of my personal weakness and the tension of sin that leans against me.
This expression of faith gives me a confidence and clarity of who I am in the world and what the purpose and intention of my life is. Despite the weakness and failures that are mine, and will be mine through the course of my earthly existence, I am convinced that the mercy of God through the redemption of Jesus will triumph over these failures. I am convinced that there is life after we die in the body. I believe in eternal life with God in heaven with all the angels and saints and all my loved ones who have preceded me.
The faith I hold gives me great consolation in times of trial, fear, failure, and the inevitable threats that come with life. I work to be a truth based person. This means that I believe in the truth of love and try, to my best ability, to live my life with love. I strive to be honest with myself about who I am, and who I am not. I try to integrate the good, the bad, and the unknowns of my life under the authority of God revealed in Jesus. I find this self-honesty a challenge that needs attention, but it is also a great consolation and security in my identity with God. As was once said to me, if there were an eleventh commandment it would be; thou shalt not lie to yourself.
I believe in the power of grace, particularly in the Sacraments of the Church. I personally experience and claim that grace in my life and in my ministry. Through regular prayer I experience the care and direction of God’s love. I experience God hearing my prayer and giving me an answer. Sometimes the answer is silence, sometimes it is what I asked for, and sometimes it is something else. Even when I fail, and repent my sins I experience the presence and the action of God. My faith gives me peace, hope, and joy. I would never want to lose it.
I share this witness with you as a response to the readings today. The first reading and the gospel call for a decision; a choice for God the Lord, or a choice for some other god through idolatry. Faith is a decision; one that calls for clarity and commitment. Saying yes to God in Christ does not mean a life full of virtue, right living, or freedom from the pain and disappointment of life. Faith means that in the midst of the challenges of life, and there will be many, a person surrenders in trust to the truth of God who is Love. Failure is allowed because love triumphs with mercy for those who reverence and honor the Lord of all.
“…as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.’ This conviction of faith comes from Joshua as he leads the Israelites into the land of Canaan given them by God. The current residents of Canaan follow many false gods and idols. Joshua makes it clear that God alone is the Lord and calls for the faith conviction of those who seek to serve the living God.
The gospel follows on last week when many came to doubt and reject eating the body and blood of Jesus. For those who remain Jesus calls the question, ‘Do you also want to leave?” It is Peter who replies, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and we are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
Life decisions are hard to make because it means a commitment. Culturally, there seems to be an inability or unwillingness on the part of many to make long term commitments. This is seen in the realm of marriage, and in a clear commitment to a life of faith in God. I won’t presume to know the underlying reason for this cultural shift. Has the secular nature of society weakened our capacity to make and accept the commitment of faith in an ultimate reality we cannot directly see or prove? Is it a fear of failure, resistance to the rules of religion, perceived loss of personal freedom, laziness, apathy, waiting for something better to come along, or truly a disbelief in a higher being as the Truth of Love?
There is little doubt that it is difficult to have and hold faith in today’s world. That should tell us the necessity and wisdom of the very faith that is so readily resisted. The wisdom of faith helps us know who we are. Faith teaches us who God is, and who we are called to be in relation to the God who made us. Working to know and trust in a God of love, mercy, and truth becomes a secure foundation to develop self-love. Self-love is the foundation which can lead to a meaningful and fruitful life. Finding a secure self-love and identity through our secular culture is a minefield of false hope, idle promises, and regular disappointments. Seeking the truth of God in love, experienced in the person of Jesus will teach us why we believe, and why we are drawn to God in the first place. Human beings have a deep inner need and longing for love because we have been created by a God of love who seeks our unity and oneness with the Divine self of Love. This decision for love and its commitment is hard at times, and it is life-long. Secular pleasures and false gods abound to tempt our inclination to seek an easier way. Inevitably there will be some trial and error along the way. In the end, true faith finds its home in the love of God revealed and given in Christ Jesus. As for me and my house, I will serve the Lord; holding to the light of hope in the promise of eternal life.
Father John Esper
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