Sunday 23rd August, 2009
21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.
 Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord—Ps 33(34):2-3, 16-23. Ephesians 5:21-32. John 6:60-69. [St Rose of Lima]

  
Meditation: mp3 | podcast
Readings: Text | mp3 | podcast

‘Will you also go away?’ ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?’

Jesus gives the disciples a choice: there is no coercion. The only thing that has moral value and helps us to grow is that which is done freely, and God’s greatest gift is free will.

As a cradle Catholic, I was a conscript, brought into the church by my mother. At some time during my life, I came to a point of choice and I became a volunteer and it was the most liberating feeling in the world. Like a homing pigeon, I am free, but I need to return to Jesus; it is where I long to be.

Like the disciples, where else will I go? I am free, even when life is hard, because this is what I have freely chosen.