How to Handle the Hard Stuff

“This is a hard saying. Who can accept it?” This is the reaction of the disciples of Jesus to his teaching on the Eucharist. Because many people were unable to “accept” what Jesus was saying, his own disciples left him…and Jesus let them go. He was even content the let the apostles leave as well. Although Peter doesn’t understand any better than the others, he does give us the model of how to deal with hard sayings. “Lord to whom shall we go? We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

We learn to trust the truth of the hard sayings because we trust the one who says them. If Jesus says it, it must be true. We’ve got the rest of our life to figure it all out. If God can become man, does it really seem so impossible that the God-man can change bread and wine into God? It might be a hard saying, but it sure isn’t impossible.