For the last five weeks, and this is the final time we will hear from John, Chapter Six, we have listened to the Bread of Life Discourse. He talks about Jesus revealing to the disciples his real presence in the Eucharist and he says, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life within you.” Right after he says that line, we hear this from today’s gospel, “Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, this saying is hard, who can accept it?” Even when Jesus was revealing the real presence in the Eucharist, the disciples found it to be a hard saying. And since Jesus knew they were murmuring, he heard them debating this, he said to them, “Does this shock you?” And then he takes it even further. He says, “What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before; it is the spirit that gives life while the flesh is no avail to you. My words to you are Spirit and Life.” So now he’s taking it even further because he’s helping them see that he is calling himself the Son of God. He is making it very clear that by eating his flesh and drinking his blood that we receive eternal life.
And then he says, but some of you do not believe. So, right in the midst of his disciples, he knew that some of them did not believe. 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.” This is the part that pushes them over the edge even more because he says, ‘My Father.’ By saying that he is the Son of God, he is claiming that he and God are one.
The same is true for each and every one of us because of our union with Jesus, we become children of God. Now I want you to know that God the Father has no grandchildren. He only has children and I know that for many of us, we will hear that and as a result of this, many disciples will return to their former way of life. They left. And I can just imagine Jesus, how his heart must have been broken when he saw this, when he would be revealing his deepest most intimate teaching to the disciples and he watches them leave. Then he looks at Simon Peter and he asked this question, “Do you also want to leave?” Imagine the heartbreak that Jesus is feeling as all these disciples leave and he looks at Simon and the twelve and he says to them, “Do you also want to leave?”
What I mean by God has no grandchildren is that we hear today in the Gospel that it is only through the Father that people come to the Son. What does that mean for each and every one of us? It is by the Father’s love that we have been drawn to the Son. I know that Jesus aches when people leave the church, when they leave the faith and I know that many of us ache. Probably each and every one of us knows and loves someone who has left the faith. If nothing else I just want you to know that Jesus’ heart aches even more than yours does. Jesus loves them even more than we could ever love anyone on this earth. But it’s also important to know that there is a way for people to come back to God and he reveals that way in today’s Gospel: “No one comes to me except by my Father.”
So, what do we do? How do we love those who are away from the church? First, realize that Jesus loves them even more than you do. Second, realize that the Good Shepherd has his ways of finding the lost sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd; it’s his job to find the lost sheep. But it’s also so important for us to pray to our Father, to ask our Father to find the prodigal children, to ask our Father to bring them home, to ask our Father to help them see the way and the truth and the life.
Imagine right now we are with Jesus, because we are, and some disciples have left the faith and now He looks right at you, and He asks this of you, “Do you also want to leave?” We are all here because the answer is, “No!” We want to be with him, we want to be here.
Simon Peter says to him, “Master, to whom else should we go?” It’s like for us that totally believe despite the scandals of the church, despite people leaving the church, ‘to whom else can we go? Where else can we find Jesus like we can find him here?’ We are all here because we love him and we believe in him. Simon Peter says, “You have the words of eternal life and we have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus is the Holy One of God. He is the Son of God in whom we believe.
What can we do about our brothers and sisters that are away from the Lord? Mary has revealed many times in her different apparitions around the world and it’s these three words: Pray… Pray…Pray. These are the three words. That’s what we can do, we can pray to our Heavenly Father, we can beg our Heavenly Father, we can plead to our Heavenly Father, to bring all of his children back home to the Church.
