“TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?”
CMO RETREAT
ST
ANN, PPL, LAGOS
Saturday
June 24th, 2023
(Jn
6:68)
The verse is taken from Jesus’ teaching about His Body and
Blood, saying, “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His
blood, you have no life in you” (Jn 6:53). It was a difficult teaching for the
people, a deep mystery that was hard for them to understand. Many of them got
confused, for they were holding on to the technical, rational and logical understanding
of the message, in addition to their cultural and religious prohibition on
eating blood (Lev 17:10). While many of the Jews outrightly did not believe
Him, but many of disciples, who earlier believed in Him turned their back on
Him (Jn 6:64-65). However, Jesus did not bend His teaching to suit them nor
begged them to stay, instead He turned to the twelve apostles and said to them,
“What about you, do not want to go away too?” Peter answered, “Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we have come
to know that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:67-69).
In our society today, there is so much confusion in every aspect
of our lives. We are facing economic crisis, socio-political crisis, family
life and marriage crisis are increasing. The new age moral issues are
intoxicating our younger generation. Can men of this generation confidently
claim that they are the head of their families or they have been reduced to
mere ‘bread winners’? There is a new wave of spirituality spreading across, so
loud, so exciting, so compelling but with little content and value; bringing
little or no conversion and union with God. In the midst of these confusion and
attack on the mysteries of faith, ‘To whom shall we go?’ It may be easy to take
the shortcut and walk away and remain in our self-enclosed ideas and ways of
life. This can lead to frustration and depression as we continue to circle around
the confusions of life. Some others have settled for the most convenient and
easy approaches to life and faith, rejecting every imprint of the Cross of
Christ, they get drowned in the euphoria a life of pleasure and affluence that
is not stable nor enduring. Thus, we have people of this generation, who easily
walk away at the slightest difficulty or discomfort. Lacking patience, they
wander like sheep without shepherd, dwelling only on the surface of the message
and events around them, instead of exploring deeper to understand the mysteries
of life.
The Christian fathers of today must rise to the challenge.
We have the example of Simon Peter and the other apostles to go by. They
equally did not have an in-depth knowledge of what Jesus was teaching about the
Eucharist. But they stood on the existing relationship of faith they had with
Him, and placed their trust in Him over and above their ego. Their vulnerability
at placing their faith in Christ became their courage in the face of the confusion
of their lack of understanding of the mysteries. Knowledge gives us power—power
to control what we have mastered. But for the apostles who remained, confidence
in Jesus became their knowledge, for they have come to know that He is the
all-knowing! Thus, the act of choice-making is already decided in Christ Jesus.
That means the Christian Fathers must have confidence in Jesus as Peter did. This
is the assurance they have in the midst of the confusions and crisis of our
time. If we are not resolute in Jesus, how can we be resolute in the face of
the difference voices that is appealing to us! This is so important especially
in the face of the huge family responsibilities father are expected to undertake.
“To whom shall we go?” echoes our yearning for
understanding of the present situations each of us experiences, and it exposes
our incapacity to resolve perfectly all the crisis before us and ahead of us.
However, as Christ’s faithful, it becomes a rhetorical question since we have
already acknowledged Jesus as the answer. Therefore, “To whom shall we go?” becomes
an expression of our reaffirmation of faith and trust in Jesus as the only we
must follow. It becomes important that Christian Fathers of today must re-align
their steps to follow Jesus more closely, despite the many broad and easy ways
the world suggests. The worldly alternatives do not give lasting solution,
instead the end up creating more confusion and they lead to destruction. The
Christian Father who imitates Jesus closely becomes a good guardian and bread winner
of his family, leading like a good shepherd on the pathway of love, peace,
forgiveness, unity and progress. Such a man must avoid the distraction of the
essay ways that lead to ruin, such as anger, violence, life of pleasure,
laziness, prayerlessness, etc. Hence, “To whom shall we go?” echoes our
rejection of the easy ways that are not of Christ, no matter how popular or alluring
they may be.
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
June 24, 2023.
