We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God

Fr Paul reads from John’s Gospel (6: 60-69) in which Jesus says ‘it is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh has nothing to offer.

Throughout John’s Gospel, Fr Paul says, we constantly see a great division taking place between those who accept Jesus as the Messiah, the wisdom of God, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, Lamb of God; and those who simply do not accept Jesus.

In today’s Gospel, comes the sad moment when we see division between the disciples themselves – when some of the followers of Jesus find his message too hard and they walk away. Yet, at the end of this Gospel, we hear the beautiful act of faith made by Peter and some of the other disciples, ‘Lord to whom shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life; and we believe, we know, you are the Holy One of God.’

We, too, have a choice to be a follower of Christ, to accept him into our hearts or to walk away.

For our reflection today, Paul invites us to ask ourselves ‘How deep is my faith? How firm is my commitment?’ Because, he says, this is a choice we must make each day.