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Browsing Father Michael Deering's Sunday Homilies

Don’t give up … Surrender!

Don’t give up … Surrender!
Homily originally presented August 8, 2021
by Rev. Michael Deering

 

There’s something that’s done in the sport of Boxing that signals when one boxer has had enough punishment and can’t go on any longer.

The trainer in that boxer’s corner takes the towel that is used to mop the sweat from the boxer’s brow ... and he throws the towel into the center of the ring.

 

As soon as the referee sees this, he declares that the fight is over ...

and raises the arm of the other boxer to signal his victory.

 

This is where we get the expression, “Throwing in the towel” ... an expression we use when we speak of someone quitting something or giving up on something.

 

Now it’s important to realize that there’s a difference between

quitting and surrendering.

 

Quitting means stopping with no desire and no hope of continuing on.

Surrendering means pausing with the intention and hope of continuing on.

 

For a young Boxer who did not train well and is out of shape,

surrendering a boxing match now will preserve him from more injury that day

and give him the chance to train better & come back stronger in the future.

 

For an old Boxer, who has lost the edge and is getting badly hurt,

quitting a boxing match now will put an end to more injury that day or ever again

because he has no intention of competing again.

 

We heard an example of quitting in our First Reading where the Prophet Elijah went on a one day’s journey into the desert ... came to a shade tree ... sat down and prayed to God for death saying:   This is enough, O Lord! Take my life.”

 

Wow! the Holy Prophet, Elijah, had had enough ... saying in effect:

          “I’m done ... take my life.”

Yes, Elijah had thrown in the towel and wanted to quit.

 

Have you ever felt that way? where journeying through the desert of this life ...

you feel so overwhelmed and so beat up that you feel “I’m done, I can’t go on.”

 

Well, you’re not alone.    All of us go through various seasons of life ...

times of consolation and times of desolation.

 

And there may be times where we feel like throwing in the towel and quit.

 

But that is definitely not what God wants us to do.

He wants us to ... surrender!

 

When Elijah told God what he wanted God to do   (take his life)

God came right back and told Elijah what He wanted Elijah to do (get nourished)

 

Through the angel God ordered him, “Get up and eat”.

 

God didn’t want Elijah to quit ... He wanted him to surrender ...

to surrender his will ... to God’s will.

 

Why?    Because God’s desire was for him to make it out of the desert of desolation

and arrive safely at the Mountain of God, Horeb.

 

It’s an example of surrendering in the moment ... to win victory in the end!

 

That is God’s very intention to this day ...

          that we make it safely to the Mountain of God ... Heaven

                   where we’ll rejoice in victory and consolation forever.

 

What’s it going to take?    Surrender!

 

Surrendering our will to God’s will ... and ...

partaking of the supernatural nourishment He longs to provide to us.

 

This is not easy to do, especially when things are comfortable and going our way.

 

When we have our health, our job and our families, we may cruise along like we’ve got things all figured out. And we may not be open to hearing what God has to say.

 

This was the case in our Gospel today, where the Jews murmured against Jesus because He said that He was the Bread come down from Heaven.

 

Now it’s important to note that Jesus said this fully one year before He instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper. So there was no connection ... at that time ...

to His use of the word bread as referring to the Eucharist.

 

You see, throughout the Old Testament the word “bread was universally understood as referring tothe Wisdom of God”.

 

Bread meant the Wisdom of God!

 

So, things such as The Ten Commandments, the Law of Moses, and the Torah

were all referred to as bread from God,

    in as much as they were the word of God that fed the Israelite people.

 

 

 

But now along comes Jesus and He makes two bold proclamations

that you heard in last week’s Gospel  ...

in the verses preceding today’s verses from John chapter 6.

 

In verse 32, Jesus says, “My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven.” 

By saying “true” bread, Jesus sets this new bread above all other breads, ...

even above the law of Moses that was given to their ancestors!

 

Then in verse 33, Jesus says, “For the bread of God is that which

comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 

You see, unlike the Torah that gave life to Israel,

this new gift of God gives life to the whole world!

 

And in verse 35, Jesus clearly indicates that He is the new gift of God, saying,

 I am the bread of life.”

 

Now if bread refers to God’s wisdom,

then Jesus is saying that He is God’s wisdom ... in the flesh!

 

This meant that God’s Wisdom wasn’t just in The Ten Commandments.

It meant that God’s Wisdom ... was here ... in the person of Jesus.

 

That’s why the Jews began to murmur.

“How could this be? Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know His Mother and His Father?     How can He say, ‘I have come down from Heaven?

 

It’s here that the Jews have to make a decision. Do they quit or do they surrender?

 

Do they quit believing in the words & works of Jesus and walk away, thereby closing the door on any future hope of understanding this great mystery?

 

Or, do they surrender their understanding of God’s wisdom to this new news of Jesus and thereby open the door to their future comprehension & understanding?

 

So, Jesus reminds them of God’s plan by quoting the Prophets, who said, “They shall all be taught by God.” Jesus, by claiming to be God is saying, Listen up!”

 

Jesus adds, “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me.” See God’s plan is that salvation of the whole world would come through His Son.

 

So, once the Father sent us the true bread from Heaven, which is His Son,

He then called all of us to come to Him ... through His Son.     Jesus affirms this later in John, announcing:  “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

 

 

 

 

This involves surrender. It involves surrender to The Truth,

where Truth is the person, Jesus, the Wisdom of God ...

who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.

 

Jesus is bread from Heaven!

Not bread from the standpoint of the Eucharist, not yet.

But bread from the standpoint of the fullness of God’s Wisdom,

the fullness of Truth!

 

If there’s one chapter in the Bible that we as Catholics need to know,

it’s John Chapter 6 ... It’s just three pages long,

for it clearly reveals Jesus as … living Bread!

 

That’s why the Church has designed that we study it over a period of 5 successive Sundaysso central is it to our faith.

 

We began two weeks ago by reading the first 14 verses of 6th chapter of John.

There, Jesus fed 5000 people with just 5 loaves and 2 fish,

demonstrating His miraculous power to nourish our bodies

 

Today, in verse 51, Jesus lays the foundation for the day ...

    when He will demonstrate His miraculous power to nourish our souls!   He says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

 

So you see, it’s a 2-step process:

The Father gives us true bread from Heaven, which is Jesus    (God’s Wisdom)

and Jesus gives us the bread of life, which is His very flesh!    (God’s Power)

 

Next week, we would normally proclaim the next 8 verses from John 6 (51 – 58),

(but this year the readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption will take precedence)

 

In verses 51-58, Jesus emphasizes the importance of feeding on Him ...

     knowing that He would establish the miracle of the Mass at the Last Supper ...

so as to feed us with Himself in Holy Communion.  

 

And finally in 2 weeks, when verses 60 – 69 of John 6 are proclaimed we’ll see what it means to fully surrender one’s faith to Jesus as we hear that  

instead of quitting and walking away as many of the Jews did, Peter declares:

We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God!

 

 

Peter & the Apostles couldn’t possibly have understood how Jesus was going to feed them with His very body and blood. But the Apostles didn’t quit; they surrendered!

 

They surrendered to Jesus, who is the Truth and that enabled them to eventually learn the truth … that Jesus would sustain them on their journey to Heaven by nourishing them supernaturally with Himself ... in Holy Communion.

 

So rich is the content of this Chapter that I want to suggest that you read it at home during the week. Just open your Bible to the 6th Chapter of John and read it all the way through. Take this on as your homework assignment for each of the two weeks. It will really help you comprehend the mystery of God’s saving plan for us.

 

God has a plan, even though there may be times where it doesn’t look that way.

 

Yes, there will be times when we may wonder, question and doubt. When we experience sickness or injury, loss of a job or death of a loved one, separation or divorce, or addiction to drugs or alcohol, life can appear pretty hopeless.

 

It’s at times like these we may be tempted to throw in the towel.

But God says nodon’t quitsurrender!      Surrender to Me!

 

Remember Elijah, who after being nourished by God ...

“walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God.”

 

It’s the same way with all of us. Unless we are nourished with food from God,

the journey to Heaven will be too long for us.

 

Remember, The Father gives us the true bread from Heaven in Jesus.

 

In Jesus we have the fullness of God’s Wisdom.

By listening to the teachings of Jesus, we will clearly know the will of the Father and be able to choose the right paths to salvation.

 

Then, Jesus then gives us true food from Heaven in the Eucharist.

 

Elijah arrived at the mountain of God not by quitting, but by surrendering. There’s a difference.

In quitting we say, “Aw, the heck with it!” We throw in the towel and we go our own way.

In surrendering we say, “I submit because I believe that you can help me.”

 

Our salvation hinges on us never quitting … on us never throwing in the towel.

 

 

 

Sir Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of England during the Second World War, and he had a simple formula for success. It was only 7 words long!

 

He said, “Never, never, never, never, never give up!”

 

Like Winston Churchill, God is saying the same words to us!

 

God doesn’t want you to give up

He wants you to surrender.

 

He wants you to surrender yourself to Him ...

so that He can guide you and nourish you to your Heavenly home.

 

There’s nothing to be gained by quitting.

There’s everything to be gained by surrendering.

 

Let’s be intent on always surrendering ourselves to Jesus’ nourishment.

He is the Wisdom and the Power of God.  

 

Guided and nourished by Him ... we will one-day have our arms raised in victory

there in the Kingdom of Heaven!

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