Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal July-August 2024

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
1st week of the psalter

FIRST READING

From the Book of Joshua (Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b)
In those days, Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem and summoned the elders of Israel, the heads, the judges and the scribes, and they presented themselves before God. Joshua said to all the people: «If it seems evil in your sight to serve the Lord, choose today whom you will serve: whether the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord». The people answered: «Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! For it is the Lord, our God, who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery; he performed those great signs before our eyes and protected us throughout the whole journey we made and among all the peoples through whom we passed. Therefore we too will serve the Lord, because he is our God». – The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

The covenant, as a bond of love between God and his people, always needs to be renewed and brought to life as history unfolds. God has been faithful to his commitments, freeing Israel from Egyptian slavery, guiding it through the hardships of the desert and giving it the promised land as a place where the people could prosper and live in peace. Now at Shechem all the Israelite tribes are called to make a further decision, to express clearly and publicly their true intentions, whether they are willing to serve the Lord and not bow down to other deities. This service is not like the one they had rendered to Pharaoh, burdened with oppression and forced labor and without freedom. On the contrary, the Lord asks for a joyful and liberating service, embracing both the liturgical sphere, with solemn sacrifices in the temple, and daily life, in obedience to his will. At Shechem, the people seem well disposed. Will they be so in the future? Will they allow themselves to be deceived by insidious deities? This is the question that echoes from century to century and reaches even our own generations.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians (Eph 5:21-32)
Brothers and sisters, be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ: wives to their husbands, as to the Lord; for the husband is head of the wife just as Christ is head of the Church, he himself the savior of the body. And as the Church is subject to Christ, so wives should be subject to their husbands in everything. And you, husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, and to present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and immaculate. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies: he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cares for it, as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is great: I am speaking in reference to Christ and the Church! – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

The Letter to the Ephesians is not addressed to just any society on the face of the earth, but to a Christian community whose readers have been touched by the saving action of Christ, freed from every slavery to evil and filled with the Holy Spirit. The Ephesians have experienced the love of Jesus and are part of the Church as Christ’s bride. Moreover, they read Sacred Scripture and are therefore aware of God’s plan from the origins of creation, by which he intended unity between man and woman, joined by the bond of love. To married people, the Apostle addresses his exhortations, so that the marital union of two people open to faith can be lived only in boundless fidelity and undivided love. Marriage is a reality far greater and more mysterious than selfishness, human instinct or even the simple law of nature might suggest. The term “mystery” indicates that married life is oriented from the beginning toward signifying the spousal relationship between Christ and the Church, from which, in turn, it receives further value and grace.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John (Jn 6:60-69)
At that time, many of Jesus’ disciples, after hearing him, said: «This saying is hard! Who can accept it?». Jesus, knowing within himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them: «Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe». Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him. And he said: «For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father». After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve: «Do you also want to leave?». Simon Peter answered him: «Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God». – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

To believe in Jesus means to know him and, together with Peter, firmly proclaim: «You are the Holy One of God». It may seem that faith springs solely from an inner impulse, human decisions or intellectual abilities; on the contrary, it requires a special grace that comes from the heavenly Father, which urges the disciple to turn toward Christ and must be welcomed with simplicity of heart. At times Jesus presents himself as one who speaks. Yet his words appear to be harsh; even the disciples found themselves disoriented, to such an extent that many abandoned him. And what will the Twelve do? Is it worthwhile to follow this strange teacher and accompany him in his mission? And if one intends to remain with him, how can one understand his appeals and penetrate his teachings, whatever they may be? Jesus clarifies that his words contain the presence of the Spirit who is communicated. And where the Spirit works, it produces and generates life, the very life of God, who is eternal. Peter understood this and can say: «You have the words of eternal life». He does not intend to leave the Master, in order to receive the Holy Spirit in fullness at Pentecost, after Jesus has ascended to the Father.