21st Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 26.08.2012

Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b/ Ephesians5:21-32/ John 6:60-69

The word “paradox” is a rather strange word to define. I tried to look for the simplest and clearest and shortest definition, but I think I got into some kind of confusion.

So I can only vaguely say that a paradox is a statement which is seemingly absurd, but nonetheless true.

Yet in a way, we also vaguely know what a paradox is, and maybe a few examples may help us understand the paradox of our modern lives.

So what is the paradox of our modern lives? Well, we have taller buildings but shorter tempers; we have wider expressways but narrower viewpoints; we spend more but have less; we buy more but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses but smaller families; we have more conveniences but less time; we have more knowledge but less judgment; we have more medicine but less health.

We have conquered outer space but not our inner space; we have done bigger things but not better things.
These are just some examples of the paradox of our modern lives.

And we may even come up with some paradoxes of our own.

Yet there are times when we come across statements of conflicting truth and we don’t think much about them.

For example, if a person says “I always lie.” Is that person telling the truth, or is that person lying?

Or we may have heard parents saying to their little children : Don’t go near the water until you have learned how to swim!

Well, statements of conflicting truths and paradoxes may leave us in confusion and even frustration.

But we know what a nonsensical statement or a nonsensical language is. It is a statement or language that has no meaning or just simply absurd.

We will know it when we hear it, and there is no need to give an example.

Yet, we heard in the gospel that some of the followers of Jesus were complaining that He used intolerable language.

Putting it simply, they were saying that Jesus was talking nonsense, and that He was absurd and ridiculous.

And that was because Jesus said that the bread that He shall give is His flesh for the life of the world.

And that anyone who eats His flesh and drinks His blood will have eternal life.

It was nonsensical and absurd and ridiculous to them, and it disturbed them to the extent that they left Jesus.

And what about us? Can we accept the teachings of Jesus? Don’t we feel disturbed by His teachings?

Well, by the fact that we are here for Mass may mean that we believe in the teachings of Jesus. 

We say “Amen” when we receive Holy Communion, and we truly believe that we are receiving the Body of Christ.

But what about the other challenging and difficult teachings of Jesus? 

Like for e.g., love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Mat 5:43-44).

Or how about this : Do not resist an evildoer; if he strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other to him as well (Mat 5:39)

Or, if you do not take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple (Lk 14:27).

In fact, every page of the gospels is filled with some kind of hard teachings of Jesus.

These teachings of Jesus may sound absurd and ridiculous, yet His words are spirit and they are life, and they contain the message of eternal life.

In fact, Jesus and His message is like a paradox, which may initially seem absurd and ridiculous, but nonetheless true.

Yes, it is the truth, but it is only after going through the pains of the trails of life that we can discover the truth of Jesus and His message.

Because it is in the trials of life that we will have to decide whether to leave Jesus or to believe in Him; whether to stay with Jesus or to stay away from Him.

Well, talking about the trials of life, and the good things and bad things that come our way, let me share with you a story.                   

Once upon a time, there was a king and he had a servant whom he liked very much because he was very wise and always gave very useful advice. Therefore the king took him along wherever he went.

One day, the king was bitten by a dog. His finger was injured and the wound got worse and worse. 

He asked the servant if that was a bad sign. The servant said, "Good thing or bad thing, hard to say". In the end, the finger of the king was so bad that it had to be cut off. The king asked the servant again if that was a bad sign. Again, the servant gave the same answer, "Good thing or bad thing, hard to say". The king became very angry and sent the servant to prison.

One day, the king went hunting in the jungle. He got excited when he was chasing a deer. Deeper and deeper he went into the jungle. In the end he found himself lost in the jungle. To make things worse, he got captured by natives living inside the jungle.

They wanted to sacrifice him to their god. But when they noticed that the king had one finger missing, they released him immediately as he was not a perfect man anymore and not suitable for sacrifice. The king managed to get back to his palace after all. 

And he finally understood the servant's wise quote, "Good thing or bad thing, hard to say". If he hadn't lost one finger, he could have been killed by the natives.

He ordered to release the servant, and apologized to him. But to the king's amazement, the servant was not angry at him at all. Instead, the servant said, “It wasn't a bad thing that you locked me up.” The king was astonished and asked “Why?” 

The servant said, “Because if you had not locked me up, you would have brought me along to the jungle. Since the natives found that you were not suitable, then they would have used me for the sacrifice!  So "Good thing or bad thing, hard to say". 

But the words of Jesus is not about whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.

The words of Jesus may seems ridiculous and absurd, but is it truth and life?

Do we leave it, or believe in it? Will we stay with Jesus, or will we stay away from Jesus?

From Peter we hear these profound words : Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life and we believe.

Oh yes, life can be a paradox; there will be good times, there will be bad times.

Yet good times or bad times, it is hard to say. What we must do is to believe and stay with Jesus, because only He has the message of eternal life.