EXPECTATIONS HURT
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jn 6:60-69
Many years back I saw the movie “Joy Luck Club”. A scene between a mother and her daughter stuck in my mind. The mother considered her daughter a failure because her daughter did not become any of the things she wanted her to be. “I hate it when you hope, mother,” the daughter said. The mother did not utter any word but looked at her daughter with a blank stare. The daughter continued, “Because when you hope and I can’t deliver, it hurts.”
The expectations we create on others, when not delivered, can hurt either us or them. When the expectations of the Jews concerning the Christ were not fulfilled according to their categories, who got hurt? Was it Jesus or the Jews?
Today, many Jews who started following Jesus, thinking that He would fulfill their idea of what the Messiah should be, went away one by one. There was a fall out in the company that Jesus was keeping all along. Many could not accept His teaching about Him being the Bread of Life from heaven, that unless they eat His flesh and drink His blood they would have no life in Him. They found His claims intolerable. They complained. They were upset. They went away.
Perhaps Jesus was hurt as much as the Jews were hurt, if not more hurt than they were. It often hurts more when you are the one left behind and abandoned. But Jesus did not take back His words. He is the Bread of Life. His Body is meant to be eaten. His Blood should be drunk. The Jews, as well as we today, must consume Him so that we may have eternal life.
That Jesus stood His ground on His claims meant that He was convinced of what He said. He did not run after those who turn away because His teaching was difficult to accept. He did not bargain and compromise for a watered-down demand. He is the Bread of Life – take it or leave it.
But there were also those who, drawn by the Father to Jesus, stuck it out with Him despite His hard claims concerning His identity. Simon Peter stood as their spokesman: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life, and we believe; we know that You are the Holy One of God.”
How about us? Do we want to go away too? If we do, Jesus will be hurt. But we hurt our selves all the more.
Jn 6:60-69
Many years back I saw the movie “Joy Luck Club”. A scene between a mother and her daughter stuck in my mind. The mother considered her daughter a failure because her daughter did not become any of the things she wanted her to be. “I hate it when you hope, mother,” the daughter said. The mother did not utter any word but looked at her daughter with a blank stare. The daughter continued, “Because when you hope and I can’t deliver, it hurts.”
The expectations we create on others, when not delivered, can hurt either us or them. When the expectations of the Jews concerning the Christ were not fulfilled according to their categories, who got hurt? Was it Jesus or the Jews?
Today, many Jews who started following Jesus, thinking that He would fulfill their idea of what the Messiah should be, went away one by one. There was a fall out in the company that Jesus was keeping all along. Many could not accept His teaching about Him being the Bread of Life from heaven, that unless they eat His flesh and drink His blood they would have no life in Him. They found His claims intolerable. They complained. They were upset. They went away.
Perhaps Jesus was hurt as much as the Jews were hurt, if not more hurt than they were. It often hurts more when you are the one left behind and abandoned. But Jesus did not take back His words. He is the Bread of Life. His Body is meant to be eaten. His Blood should be drunk. The Jews, as well as we today, must consume Him so that we may have eternal life.
That Jesus stood His ground on His claims meant that He was convinced of what He said. He did not run after those who turn away because His teaching was difficult to accept. He did not bargain and compromise for a watered-down demand. He is the Bread of Life – take it or leave it.
But there were also those who, drawn by the Father to Jesus, stuck it out with Him despite His hard claims concerning His identity. Simon Peter stood as their spokesman: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life, and we believe; we know that You are the Holy One of God.”
How about us? Do we want to go away too? If we do, Jesus will be hurt. But we hurt our selves all the more.
posted by Fr. Bobby @ 3:00 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Jesus we dont want to go away from you, though we know that every time we commit sins, we are hurting you. Forgive us Jesus for our sins and pour to us the grace that we will see sin the way you see it.
God bless po...
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home