August 23, Twenty-First Sunday Ordinary Time

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.-- Psalm 34:9

Mass readings: Joshua 24:1-2,15-17,18 / Ephesians 5:21-32 or 5:2,25-32 / John 6:60-69

Last Resort

Today's reading from John has me remembering the low points of my life. Times when I've been at the end of my rope, when death or misfortune or my own mistakes have made me feel as if everything I cared about was collapsing. The words of Peter to Jesus are not an easy affirmation of faith. They have been my own cry of anguish and helplessness: ''Master, to whom shall I go?'' They're the words I've prayed when I've felt as if there were, in fact, no place in this world for me to go.

When Peter says, ''You have the words of eternal life,'' I hear him stress eternal. He understands that the Lord shows the way to the realm beyond flesh, the realm of spirit and life everlasting.

Prayer: Loving Savior, when life tests me, it is You to whom I shall always go.