Year B
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
Find out more about how we can mark this special day in our liturgy.
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The readings of today encourage us to think about our commitment to God. This commitment is based on our baptism, through which we became children of God, united with Christ, and called to profess our faith by participating in the missionary work of the people of God (CCC 1270).
· The people of Israel promised to be committed to God by following his commandments, living as children of God not just in name, but in thoughts, words, and actions: “We have no intention of deserting the Lord and serving other gods” (Cf 1st Reading).
· Joshua led by example, saying, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Cf 1st Reading).
· Our commitment to God is a response to God’s commitment to us. The Israelites remembered how God faithfully freed them from slavery and led them through deserted lands with great power and splendour (Cf 1st Reading).
· Commitment to God our Father requires commitment to His Son Jesus.
· However, it was not always easy for Jesus’ followers to remain committed to him, especially when his teachings seemed challenging. Jesus presented himself as the bread of life, offering his own body to nourish our souls. Many found this teaching hard to understand and deserted him.
· The Apostles were also challenged by this teaching, but they set a great example. They maintained their commitment to serving Jesus despite the challenge, saying, “Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life and we believe.”
· Genuine commitment to Jesus is also shown in our commitment to serving each other with love. This commitment is lived out in a radical way in marriage, as husbands and wives offer themselves in mutual support (Cf Second Reading).
· How committed are we to Jesus when our faith is challenged? How committed are we to each other when difficulties arise?
· May the strength we draw from Jesus in the Eucharist guide and direct us to remain committed to pleasing God at all times (Cf Prayer after Communion).
The Collect for the twenty first Sunday of Ordinary Time makes a large and important assumption: our world is a deceitful place, no fit object for our hope or trust. We can have no guarantee that an arc of history is carrying us in the direction of “progress”, whatever that might be. We just do not know what the sovereign providence of God has prepared for us. We only know that we should not put our faith in princes, or parties, or programmes.
Our world is a confusing place but the Collect helps us in our bewilderment: O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose. Grant your people to love what you command, and to desire what you promise.
There is great strength to be found when we unite with our fellow Christians, seeking simply to love the commandments of God and to desire the heavenly kingdom he has promised. The simple acts of Christian living in the heart of the Church are all we really need.
Only then, amid the uncertainties of this world, can our hearts be fixed on that place where true gladness is found, the overflowing joy of the Holy Spirit, the river which makes glad the city of God. If our hearts are fixed above, where Christ is, if our conversation is, even now, in heaven, we can live freely on the earth, act and suffer as we should, thrive amidst all things, whatsoever comes to pass on this turning world.
Bidding Prayers
Let us pray for all Christians, that strong in faith and fervent in love, we may live as witnesses to hope wherever darkness and despair rule in our world.
Let us pray for all who rule the nations, that the Law of God may rule their minds and their hearts.
Let us pray for the dead in Christ, that they may rejoice in the light of an eternal day free from all shadow due to change.
These hymns have been chosen from the Laudate Hymnbook:
605 O King of might and splendour
608 Take my hands
938 Soul of my Saviour
959 All my hope on God is founded
962 Firmly I believe and truly
980 Your words are spirit and life
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
