Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?

Since the last time I've posted a lot has happened, the most important being that I've been officially initiated into the seminary. It's not as dark or mysterious as it sounds -- basically I just had to profess that I would live the year as a seminarian of my diocese and of SJV with the help of God, and then picked a few saints and a bible verse to live my life by for the year.

My verse was John 6:67-69 which reads,

Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

Now -- In my opinion this could be the most relevant bit of dialogue in the entire bible. There are a few sure contenders, but let me explain why I think it is important.

This happens right after Jesus teaches on the Eucharist. I can get into the Eucharist in another post, but right now, suffice to say, Christ joyfully offered Himself as a means for Eternal Life, and people bailed. He was left alone, and dejectedly He turned to His best friends and said, "Do you wanna leave me, too?" Peter's answer was captured perfectly by the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan. To quote Archbishop Dolan's book, To Whom Shall We Go, titled after the verse,

"'You know, Lord...Most of the time, we don't understand what You're teaching either. Most of the time, it goes over our heads. Most of the time, we can't make much sense out of it. Most of the time, we find Your teachings difficult and demanding. Yes, there have been times that we've been tempted to walk away because You just don't seem to make any sense. But Lord, we don't care. You're all we've got. We have come to love You, believe in You, hope in You; and we have come to know that even though we don't always understand You, and even though You at times confuse, frustrate, and exasperate us, we know that You have the words of everlasting life. There is nowhere else to go. We are in it for the long haul.'"

Think about our world today. It seems almost every other day you hear a story about "so-and-so who's leaving the Church"...or someone will say, "well, I GREW UP Catholic..." People are hearing Christ's message, seeing the life of the Cross and saying, "No Way! That's a ton of superstition. This heaven and hell stuff is a load of crap and I can get by just by living a moral life that I define."

While there are a ton of philosophical questions that could be asked about the above statement, let's stick with the one Jesus asked. He's asking us the same question today: "Do you also want to leave?" As I sit in the seminary and contemplate my life with God, I see myself more and more in Peter. "Jesus, where else am I gonna go? I've invested everything I have in You. You are GOD. There is absolutely no way I could have any sort of life worth living apart from You. I've believed before...and now I KNOW that You are the Holy One of God."

Call it a little reflection I guess, it's just something that's been on my mind. Prayers and Blessings.