21st Sunday in Oridnary Time

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

I have always found this particular passage poignant. The disappointment of Jesus is thick in the air, even when it is read in church you can feel it. When the entire selection of today's Gospel is read, it reveals even more starkly the deep sadness Jesus felt. Even though he knew that not everyone would be able to handle it, he loved them anyway.

Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one 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 my Father.”

It must have broken Jesus heart to have to say those words, because the only reason he came to earth was to bring this very truth to everyone. I don't care that this comes from the Gospel of John, and that John is largely a work of theology, the point is, at some point, in some way, this event occurred and Jesus felt sadness.

We must now ask ourselves, as he asks us, "do you want to leave, too?" Our only option is to cry out to God NO.

You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Do I believe this? Do you believe this? Does it show in our lives?

May God bring us altogether to everlasting life.