Light of Goodness

Our Gospel this weekend points out that Jesus was not always successful in his preaching. People came to hear him, but many walked away, disillusioned after hearing what he had to say.
What kind of people followed Jesus and listened to his teachings? What were they searching for from him? Perhaps they were people to whom life had dealt a losing hand. Some were undoubtedly looking for answers to the riddles of life – how to make sense out of existence – how to get along better with other people – how to keep crumbling relationships together – how to find some peace of mind? These are questions that continue to be asked to this very day. But why did people walk away?
Human beings then were basically not much different from us today. The questions and longings of the human heart seem the same for all people, at all times, everywhere. In the search for answers to our questions and solutions to our problems, however, many of us are not really searching for answers and solutions, but rather looking for confirmation of what we already believe and practice. We want to hear what we want to hear, and our minds are all but closed to people who would tell us different. This is a reaction that Jesus faced repeatedly. The last thing, for example, that an addict wants to hear is that he or she has a problem!
Jesus was clearly looking for a change of heart in his listeners. He taught them eternal truths in order to effectively change the way they thought and acted. Unfortunately, who of us can really tolerate much serious consideration of basic changes in our lives? Who really wants to be confronted with the idea that comfortable beliefs and established attitudes are not actually in our best interests, or that our behavior is out of tune with God’s will?
No matter how much Jesus is acclaimed as ―the way, the truth, and the life,‖ he is not easy to follow when we are entrenched in our ways. Putting the teachings of Jesus into practice can be a formidable enterprise! It is definitely not easy turning the other cheek to someone who is unjustly harassing us!
The only way to approach Jesus is with an open mind and heart. There is no way to accept his teachings without considering some fundamental changes in our lives. In his compassion, though, he knows how difficult this is for us who are set in our ways. In our Gospel this weekend, Jesus asks, ―Will you go away also?‖ Simon Peter models a response that should come easy to anyone with an open mind and heart. "Lord, to whom shall we go?‖ When we are honest with ourselves, and something about Jesus and his message resonates in us, if only a little bit, we should be inclined to remain with Jesus to hear more. That takes great courage and good will!
Peter’s simple, plaintive answer is the confession of faith that God is not to be found in the darkness of evil but in the light of goodness that seeks to shatter that darkness! May we possess the constant faith and resolve of Simon Peter and the Twelve who remained with Jesus – faith that, even in the most difficult times, always senses the light and refuses to abandon the hope of God’s love!