HOMILY – AUGUST 22, 2021 – REV. JAMES L. NADEAU, PASTOR
August20,2021
HOMILY – AUGUST 22, 2021 – 21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME REV. JAMES L. NADEAU, PASTOR
How many of you remember the song, “Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places?” This song is really a reflection on our own human lives, because sometimes WE look for love, peace, or meaning in all the wrong places. Don’t we? We think possessions will bring us peace or love, but they do not. We think status will bring us peace or love, but they do not. They do not, because when we face the challenge of evil or personal chaos, we stagger, because the items (possessions) and things with which we surround ourselves cannot deliver inner strength. REAL STRENGTH is not physical or financial but SPIRITUAL.
That is why, in the first reading, we heard Joshua and the Elders speak, “WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.” Far be it from us to forsake the Lord; LOOK AT ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE. Likewise, in the Gospel, as the people were leaving Jesus, because His teaching on the Eucharist was too hard, Peter, speaking for all, said, “MASTER, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? ONLY YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.” The Lord alone can give us inner substance and vision.
And isn’t that why we come here? The Lord alone can give us true peace and inner strength - Sunday after Sunday, to be fed with the real presence in Holy Communion and to listen to the Word of God. With Peter, we too, can say, “Master, to whom shall we go. Only you have the words of eternal life.”