Homily: Dig Deep

Year B / Ordinary Time / Twenty-first Sunday

Readings: Joshua 24.1-2a, 15-17, 18b / Psalm 33.2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23 (R/v 9a) / Ephesians 5.21-32 / John 6.60-69

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

We’re all familiar with this phrase. It can however mean different things. For some, it means studying hard to ace our examinations. For others, it’s about persevering through our army training to survive its rigors. It could also be about giving that little bit more to get the umpteenth work email or boss’s instruction done. And it might even be taking up grandma’s advice to start over after one’s divorce.  

Digging deep into one’s beliefs to get on with life is another interpretation of the phrase, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

It’s an interpretation that came alive for me when our B Division soccer team from St Joseph's Institution (SJI) entered the National Finals this year. Our opponents were Hong Kah Secondary, 5-time National Champions in the last six years. SJI was the underdog; we only began to rebuild our soccer programme four years ago. This was our first finals since the 1980s. We worked hard to get here. But we weren’t strong enough. Our boys played well but Hong Kah played better. Each time they scored a goal, our boys regrouped and played on. As the margin increased from 2 to 4 to 6 goals, and we still had not scored, our team played with even greater determination, never giving up, and our supporters, cheered on, never letting up. Sadly, we lost the Nationals. But our spirit won. And life goes on. Yes, when the going gets tough it is good that the tough get going.

What enabled our SJI team and supporters to do this? I believe it's because they made a choice to believe. They made that choice not to say “alamak, let’s give up” but to say “yes, we can, and we can because we’re Josephians.”

Making a choice is what Jesus’ disciples face in today’s Gospel reading. 

Listening to Jesus teach that he is the Bread of Life, we hear them murmur: “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” What is this saying? It is the choice Jesus offers them in this line that comes just before today’s passage: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven,” Jesus says: “whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6.51). 

Jesus is offering them a choice: to believe that he is God’s bread for their life. He is so because his words are God’s Spirit and Life for their salvation. Many of the disciples struggle with Jesus’ teaching. It is a tough teaching: to them, it sounds like cannibalism, and this disturbs them. But Jesus clarifies that it is not cannibalism; he is inviting them to choose him as the one God sends to save them. 

But they still find it tough to accept Jesus. Why? Because Jesus does not back off from demanding their total commitment of faith. He is being tough on them because he is forcing them to make that fundamental choice for life. The evangelist John tells us that many of his disciples could not do this; they found it hard to make this necessary life-giving choice. And so, they “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” 

What about you and me? Do we want to make Jesus our fundamental choice as our Bread of Life? Today, Jesus is demanding the same total commitment of faith from us. 

Will we say, “Yes,” completely, unreservedly, totally? Or, we will choose Jesus on our own terms and conditions? Will our choice be resolute or lukewarm? Or, it will be, “Why should I even bother?”

For a Christian, not bothering about choosing Jesus is unacceptable. Jesus, must be our fundamental choice for life.  Why?  Because Jesus’ teachings and way of life show us how to live, how to be happy, how to be saved, especially when the going gets tough. 

Our daily life is graced with moments of light, acceptance and peace. But it is also riddled with shadows, challenges and struggles. The difficulties and hardships in these moments make living tough. We can feel defeated. We can resign ourselves to despair. We can give up. Or, we can choose Jesus who will give us what we need to be tough in such times and to get on with life. 

What will Jesus give us? God’s love as fuel to get on with life. How do we get this? By choosing to dig deep.

If you love wine, you’d know how too much heat and too little water is not good for grapes. The grapes will dry out and become overripe. Instead of a Zinfandel smelling like fresh raspberry or cherry, it may have a not-so-lovely raisin bouquet. This is why I lamented about the drought’s impact on the grapevines when I visited a friend’s family vineyard in Napa Valley this summer. 

“It’s a pity,” I said. “Oh, no,” he replied; “thank heavens for the drought. It forces the roots of the vines to go deeper, deeper till they hit the water table underneath. Then, they can draw all the water they need. It will irrigate the vines, and they will grow. Then, the grapes will thrive.” 

Digging deep. Finding water. Being nourished. Having life. Flourishing. 

These are words we should keep in mind when our going gets tough as Christians. They are words that chart Jesus’ way for us to get tough and to live our Christian faith better: “I am the vine you are the branches.” 

Yes, we need to dig deep into our belief in Jesus if we want to live and grow as Christians because he offers us God’s loving salvation. But to do this, you and I must make that fundamental choice to stay true to Jesus so that we get on with life in God. If we seriously want to make the choice, Simon Peter’s answer in today's Gospel passage models for us the right response: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” 

There’s really no need to end this homily with a question that some of you expect me, like some of my Jesuit confreres, to ask as we close our homilies. It’s a no brainer to ask you to reflect even more about whether or not you want to choose Jesus. I believe  you all, like me, want to make this choice; our presence here this evening proclaims this.

The SJI team and its supporters chose to get tough and to keep on playing when the going got tough by digging deep into their Josephian spirit. If you and I want to get tough when our going in life is tough, we need to admit to ourselves, to one another and to Jesus that we too can dig deep: dig deep into our belief in Jesus because his words are life. 

I believe we want to. So, let's not wait anymore; let’s dig deep: Jesus wants to give us life.

Preached at St Ignatius Church, Singapore

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