“We Will Serve The LORD" by Rev. Paul Berghout (@FatherPB )

“We Will Serve The LORD" by Rev. Paul Berghout

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning their elders, their leaders, their judges, and their officers. When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the people: "If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."  Joshua 24:1-2, 15)

Brothers and sisters: Live in love, as Christ loved us.  Ephesians 5:2

As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him. 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." John 6:66-69

Piety

“In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist, in turn, confirms our way of thinking." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1327)

Study

I LIKE THAT teaching from the Catechism.  Eucharist “CONFIRMS OR CHECKS OUR WAY OF THINKING!”

THIS IS A GOOD “BACK-TO-SCHOOL” CONCEPT, TOO.  Thinking Eucharistically can help us to match our “I.Q. with our “I do.”  (For example, the Eucharistic language of “to give...will be given since Jesus is poured out for you and for many.”)

Here we learn here the language of vulnerable loving, losing and finding ourselves in the process.

The thought here is that powered by the worship of Jesus in the Eucharist, we don’t have to deliberately keep back for ourselves our gifts and time, but we can pour them on others, and we will experience a deeper Communion with Jesus.

The key point Jesus is modeling for us in the Eucharist is designing your leadership for the sake of others. In reality, everyone is acknowledged as a leader because everyone has influence over others.

Servant leaders see their defining moments as sacred, especially the sacrificial ones. To “pour out” is sacrificial, Eucharistic language.  And, of all acts, sacrifice is perhaps the least retractable; indeed, that it is central to its import (Lambek 2007).

Following Rappaport’s hierarchy of sanctity, sacrifice could be the most profound of ritual acts, serving as the ultimate ground of value (Lambek 2008).

Servant leadership leads sacrificially for the sake of others. His giving himself for our redemption is agape love, which means to choose to seek the best for others. Servant leadership is intentional because it is an action that seeks the good of others. For example, in real life, thinking like the Eucharist, in terms of the financial success of a company would be—we need to be profitable because it is necessary to achieve our real mission- which is making a positive difference in the lives of others, like asking, “what is the effect of our company on the least privileged in society, will they benefit in some way?”

I went to North Carolina recently to give a series of invocations for an annual Summer Sales Event, where all these professional insurance agents learn about the latest insurance products and hear tips and strategies from the best salespeople in the business.  Since the agent works for an insurance broker, only the product which the customer truly needs and can truly afford should be offered, which shows that leadership is can never be morally neutral.

Sales can be redemptive too because it liberates people to take back what is inherently rightfully theirs like complete health care.  If no product fits, and so there is no sale, the agent considers himself or herself a free “insurance-educator” or maybe a “senior citizen advocate” who just wants to help but pointing the person in the direction they need to go. Why? Because the overall mission of the agent is to help others even if it’s a sacrifice of time and talent.

At Communion time, the priest or Extra-Ordinary Minister of Holy Communion says “The Body of Christ.” The communicant replies: “Amen” And “receives” the Eucharist. “To receive”— rather than “I want,” “I need,” “I must have.”

This is a helpful “back-to-school” mindset— to be passive, receive the gift, the teaching being offered to you.

The ones that left said it was “hard saying” because they were reading into it, thinking it was cannibalism or something.  They could have stayed and asked for a tutor or mentor so they could understand.

Thinking Eucharistically impacts and influences the soul in the spiritual and moral order.  For example, St. Paul talks about the Cup of blessing being a Communion with the Blood of Christ—meaning that the Eucharist is real material participation in the real body and blood of Christ.

The morality is explained in 1 Cor. 11:27 "that a person should examine himself lest he eat and drink judgment to himself by failing to distinguish this from ordinary food.”

One last thing—It says “many of his disciples returned to their former way of life no longer accompanied him.” That verse is John 6:66. Satan’s six-pack.

Relapse means going back to your former life before Christ.  Going “back out there” for more “R & D” (research and development) until I fall back into an even bigger hole or SLIP which is what is said in jail ministry = Sobriety Lost Its Priority.

Stick with the winners.  Win with the stickers.  The stickers stick around.

Jesus did not yell at them, “Come back…I was just speaking figuratively or symbolically about the Eucharist; it’s not really my flesh and blood...”

It’s like what Joshua tells them in our First Reading—-they can leave if they want, but he’s already made his decision: he and his household will serve the Lord.

Action

What is non-negotiable for you?  Your health. Family time. Study time. Musical instrument practice time.  Hopefully prayer time and Sunday Eucharist time. Having a valid marriage for a Catholic so one can receive the Eucharist as the highest priority.

The fact that Jesus was not defensive when many of his disciples left is a cue that when setting boundaries, there is no need to defend, debate, or over-explain your feelings. Be firm, gracious and direct. When faced with resistance, repeat your statement or request.

Here’s a back-to-school example as well as an example you can use at home, too:  it’s perfectly reasonable for teacher or parent to withdraw or withhold the desired outcome, like some privilege, until the classroom behavior changes.

This is where the teacher finds him or herself repeating “magic” sentences like, “We’ll try again tomorrow (or next week)” so the teacher can avoid attacking, blaming, or labeling the misbehavior.

Hopefully, the class will presumably have lots of opportunities to refine some of their behaviors until they eventually get it right.

AND THAT IS WHAT GOD IN HIS PATIENCE DOES WITH US. HOWEVER, WE THINK EUCHARISTICALLY AND USE THE EUCHARIST TO CHECK OUR THINKING AND BEHAVIOR WE WILL HAVE GREAT SCHOOL YEAR AND LIFE AND DESTINY.

AMEN.