My sisters and brothers in Christ:
In today’s readings we are faced with the idea of choice, to choose
the Lord, the true God. In the first reading, Joshua requests that his
people "decide today whom you will serve" rather than assimilating
into the culture they were surrounded by, accepting false gods. They
responded with loyalty to the God who had led them out of slavery in
Egypt. They responded to God’s call and chose him as their Lord.

 

The 2nd reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians is also
challenging. “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the
Lord ... Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church
and handed himself over for her to sanctify her”

 

It is challenging for those called to the sacrament of marriage as it is
challenging for all of us, if we listen to the complete passage:
“Brothers and sisters: be subordinate to one another out of reverence
for Christ” The subordination spoken about is the whole Church, both
men and women, to Christ, our Head and Savior.

 

Today’s Gospel is the final segment of Jesus’ teaching on the Eucha-
rist, which we have read over the past five Sundays. It is interesting
to hear that even some of Jesus’ disciples did not respond to Jesus’
call. “This saying is hard; who can accept it?’" He knew that there
would be many who would not make the difficult decision to follow
him and that there would be betrayal among his closest associates.
We are faced with the same choices in our lives and in our faith. We
know that our being here, and our faith, is first of all God’s invitation
to us; however, God’s invitation demands our response in return.

 

What is our reason for choosing to be Christian, to be followers of
Christ? Are we aware of those reasons? Do we take them for granted?
We can become very complacent and content, feeling that just our pres-
ence each Sunday is enough, but Jesus asks much more of us. He asks
us to live our faith, to embrace the Spirit and life, to be his disciples. By
our actions and our reflection of God’s love, we choose each day to be a
better person, to become more fully a part of the body of Christ.

 

Among many other things, today’s Gospel demands two things: a per-
sonal response to Christ and trying to have a better knowledge of our
faith: To follow Christ personally and to know better the teachings of
the Church.

 

Because at the end it is Christ who is asking me, as he asked the Apos-
tles: Does this shock you? ... Do you also want to leave? It is Christ
who instituted the Church as a sacrament of salvation for me. So, I have
to keep trying to know, serve and love God with all my heart, my mind
and my soul.

 

I would like to share with you today the story of Blessed Jose Anacleto
Gonzalez Flores and his eight companions, martyrs. They are among
the Church’s newest “blesseds,” beatified in Guadalajara, Mexico in
November of 2005.

 

I started reflecting about their lives, a few months ago, at the National
Encuentro of Hispanic Youth Ministry. Blessed Anacleto and his com-
panions were ordinary Catholics. They were pastoral ministers, teach-
ing the faith and helping the poor. One was an auto mechanic. Another
was a musician, and another a student. One was a priest and many were
married, some of them, fathers of large families. One, Blessed Jose San-
chez del Rio, was killed just weeks before his 15th birthday.

 

These young people were 20th–century martyrs. Through their lives,
and deaths of faithfulness to the Lord and His Gospel, they became real
“witnesses of hope”. They were transformed by the presence of Christ
in their lives. And for this reason, they bring hope to people who strug-
gle to live the Catholic faith with fidelity in our society, people who
struggle to walk with Jesus, to follow in his footsteps, to live his Gospel
in a culture that is hostile to religion and Christian values.

 

And I believe we can learn a valuable lesson from the Mexican mar-
tyrs: they were able to keep the faith, and to even die for that faith, be-
cause they enjoyed a personal friendship with Jesus Christ; because
they loved his Church as the place where we still meet Jesus on earth.

 

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has said: “If you cultivate friend-
ship with Jesus, if you are diligent in receiving the sacraments, and es-
pecially the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, you will be able
to become the new generation of apostles . . . .capable of responding to
the challenges of our times and prepared to spread the gospel far and
wide” (Message for the 21st World Youth Day, February 22, 2006).

 

By receiving the Eucharist, we enter into that personal relationship
with Jesus. And in the Eucharist, Jesus asks us to have faith in Him.
Faith that should bring a conversion from mediocrity to full commit-
ment to His life and teachings. This is of even more importance today
in the life of the Church and in our country. This is not the time to be
content with a superficial understanding of the mysteries of our faith.

 

Among the many things that we can do, it seems to me that we have to
looks for ways to increase our personal relationship with Christ: per-
sonal prayer, daily Mass, frequent Communion and Confession.

 

Then we also should have an ongoing process of personal formation in
the faith, through the reading of the Gospels, the Catechism of the
Catholic Church, spiritual books, attending a bible study class, or what-
ever will be useful for us to be the Church.

 

We must rise to the challenge of our faith in our everyday lives, and re-
main open to God’s revelation to each one of us, as St. Peter so readily
did. “Simon Peter answered him, ‘Master, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are con-
vinced that you are the Holy One of God”

 

Let us say today with Joshua: "As for me and my household, we will
serve the Lord..." And, let us not forget the people’s response: "Far be
it from us to forsake the Lord! Look at all God has done for us."
Finally, let’s continue to pray for the Church and for the Holy Father,

 

Pope Benedict XVI, asking Mary, Mother of the Church for her inter-
cession that we all renew our faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ and keep in
our hearts a special love for His Church: “the visible plan of God’s love
for humanity’, because God desires ‘that the whole human race may be-
come one People of God, form one Body in Christ, and build up into
one temple of the Holy Spirit” Pope Paul VI, Catechism of the Catholic
Church, 776