FranciscanMedia.org | Sunday Soundbites | 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday Soundbites

Sunday Soundbites is a weekly, 90-second radio homily based on the Sunday readings, written and read by Fr. Greg Friedman, O.F.M. Sunday Soundbites is also heard on Catholic radio stations around the country.

Program for Sunday, August 26, 2012
(21st Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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Transcript

Jos 24:1-2, 15-17,18
Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23
Eph 5:21-32
Jn 6:60-69

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Very few times in life do we get to make a definitive choice for our faith. At a celebration of Confirmation I once heard the bishop ask those being confirmed to answer a definite "Easter yes" to the renewal of their baptismal vows. The loud, rousing response shook the church and vibrated those who heard it! A definite moment of public choice.

Today we conclude our five-week look at the sixth chapter of John, where Jesus is portrayed as the "Bread of Life." In today’s liturgy Jesus’ followers are offered a choice to accept or reject that definition.

Our first reading is also a scene of choice. Joshua gathers the tribes of Israel at the shrine of Shechem. He asks the people: Whom will they serve? Remembering all that God has done for them, the people choose to serve the Lord.

In the Gospel, Jesus confronts his disciples with a choice. Some cannot accept him as "the living bread, come down from heaven." Peter responds for the Twelve: Jesus has "the words of eternal life" for them. They have come to believe he is "the Holy One of God."

How about us? Can we make a public choice for Jesus as we approach to receive the Body and Blood of Christ? Our firm, faith-filled "Amen" is a response to the Lord who is present in this great sign of our salvation.

I’m Father Greg Friedman with the "Sunday Soundbite" for St. Anthony Messenger Press, on the web at FranciscanRadio.org.

Meet Father Greg Friedman

Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M., is creative director with the Media Production Team at Franciscan Media. He also hosts American Catholic Radio each week, and produces videos for www.AmericanCatholic.org, including the "Two-Minute Take." Father Greg wrote and directed Assisi Pilgrimage: Walking in Faith with Francis and Clare, which appeared on ABC-TV stations nationwide. He also produced the popular faith-formation series Catholic Update Video, used in parishes around the U.S. He currently serves as pastor of St. Francis Seraph Parish, located in the inner-city neighborhood of "Over-the-Rhine" in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can contact him at letters@franciscanradio.org.

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