21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)

1st Reading             Joshua 24: 1-2, 15-18.

Psalm                       34:2-3,16-23

R:// "Taste and see that the Lord is good"

2nd Reading         Ephesians 5:21-32

Gospel                     John 6: 60-69

WE WILL SERVE THE LORD, FOR HE IS OUR GOD

Beloved, today is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B). Today is also the last Sunday of August. We thank God for his mercies and his providence. We recognize the miraculous deeds of the Lord for the last 8 months. We pray that the Lord will continue to cause us to "love what [he] commands and to desire what [he] promises amid the uncertainties of this world." 

Let us pay close attention to the first reading from Joshua 24: 1-2, 15-18. We also need to recognise that we are bringing our long reading of Jesus' discourse on bread in John 6 to an end. Today in the Gospel, we read from John 6: 60-69. Our first reading is also the end of the book of Joshua. The Israelites have journeyed 40 years through the desert and are about to enter the Promised Land. This marks a crucial moment in their lives as they have arrived at the point of a historical and faithful decision making — whether to enter the Promised Land or go back to Egypt. It is of no surprise that Joshua brings the leaders and elders of the various tribes out to make the choice on behalf of the people. It is the head of a house that makes the crucial decision for a family. 

Dear friends, what strikes first is that "Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem" (Josh. 24: 1a). Remember that it was in the same Shechem that Abraham was when the Lord promised him and his descendants the Land (Gen. 12: 6-7). Abraham journeyed from Ur of the Chaldeans through Haran and reached Shechem. What it means is that, like their father Abraham, who also made a significant journey and was promised the land, so too the Israelites after making that significant journey, are at the point of making that promise come to fruition. Shechem is now the point of contact with the past and holds a special place in the acquisition of the land. It is the point of decision-making between going to the past or moving forward to acquire what is promised. 

Additionally, Shechem is a place of discernment and choice between who to serve. At Shechem, Abraham decided to build an altar to God, supposedly there at Shechem (Gen. 12: 7). The building of the Altar points to Abraham's acceptance of God as the one to worship and follow. The Israelites are there at Shechem, and the elders are going to also make a similar choice. Joshua asks them to "choose today whom you wish to serve, whether the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are now living. As for me and my House, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24: 15). Shechem is a point of a theological choice.

The elders of the people resolve to serve God alone for three main reasons. These three reasons are based in the past alone. The first reason is that he brought them out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery (v. 16). They recognised that they were on a Land, but in that land they were slaves. A slave does not have a land of his own. He dwells on it on the command of his master. That land was not their own. They need a land. The land will add to their establishment as a nation. Prior to this, they had a leader and the Law. They need a land to make them a free people. Because the Lord brought them out of that kind of land which was not theirs and is giving them a land that was theirs and simultaneously make them free people, they are choosing to serve God.

The second reason is that they saw the wonders of the Lord and how he preserved them from other warring nations. The Lord not only brought them out of a land of slavery, but preserved them from external forces. Additionally, he worked wonders for them; he worked miracles for them. They recount all the wonderful and miraculous deeds of the Lord. He gave them water, manna, etc. They do not need any other God. Hence, they will serve God. 

The third reason is that the Lord drove out the people, including the Amorites, who were living in the country. They see that the Lord gave back their heritage to them.

Dear friends, today, we stand at our Shechem, faced with choices and decisions that shape our journey. In the course of our journey, we witnessed for ourselves the faithfulness, liberative power, and providence of God. In a world of utter disregard for God's power and sovereignty in spite of his wonderful deeds, can we also resolve to serve the Lord alone. May we, too, declare at the end of our discernment that "We will serve the Lord, for He is our God"

Pax et Bonum