Understandable but Hard to Accept

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by xenonoble

by xenonoble

When I was a pre-novice, it felt great to represent the department where I belong for the intramurals. It was also a great feat to have a flawless record in the entire course of the chess competition. Incidentally, a member of the varsity chess team was able to join the competition (though intramurals must be only for the non-varsity) I was in and was defeated. After the matches have ended, the coach of the school approached me and asked if I could play for the varsity as board 2 (the school has 5 boards for the NCAA and Palarong Pambansa). So I asked the coach why he was offering the slot to me. Then he relayed a thing that surprised me, I was able to defeat the board 1 of the Letran- Calamba chess team.

Having this offer in mind, I ran immediately to Father Val to tell him about the offer of the coach for me to represent the school in higher competitions. Perhaps, there was a fire in my heart which spoke about the fulfillment of my dream to play for the nationals. However, Father Val's reply was simple, "Marvin, alam mo kasama yan sa igi-give up mo (Marvin, that is already a part of what you are to give up)."

In today's gospel, many followers of Jesus said, "This language is very hard! Who can accept it" referring to the pronouncements of Jesus that He is the bread of life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. Actually, the Greek translation of the verse is "skleros estin ho logos outos" which means that what Jesus said was understandable but very hard to accept. Perhaps, what makes the pronouncement of Jesus difficult to accept was not the intense capacity for comprehension but rather the high moral demands of following the Lord. The message is already at hand. We go to the Eucharistic celebration every single day. We have our monthly recollection. We have our horarium. We have the sacrament of reconciliation at our disposal. We have read the bible. Yes, we understand the message but the question is "Do we accept the challenge of fulfilling this high moral demands? or shall we go away from the Lord since His way is hard to follow?