21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (2024)

Mass Readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

• First Reading – Joshua 24:1-2A, 15-17, 18B :”He performed those great miracles before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey and among the peoples through whom we passed. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”
• Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 34: “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”
• Second Reading – Ephesians 5:21-32 OR 5:2A, 25-32: “This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.”
• Gospel – John 6:60-69: “The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

Themes for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

The readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B remind us that discipleship is a choice. In the first reading Joshua challenges the Israelites to decide if they will serve the Lord or pagan gods. In the gospel, some of Jesus’ followers walk away because they cannot accept what he is saying.

• Endurance
• Perseverance as disciples
• Eucharist

See the Homilies and Reflections section and the More Thoughts section for further expansion on these readings and some reflection questions for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B.

Where Should We Go? A Lesson Plan on Following Jesus

Where should we go? Should we follow the Lord or rely on ourselves? This lesson plan on following Jesus looks at what it means to walk by faith.

Minefield Game (Youth Group Game or VBS Game)

Minefield game is a youth group game which can be used to start a discussion about navigating and finding our way.

Thanks Be to God My Deliverer – A Prayer Based on Psalm 34

Psalm 34 is a prayer of thanksgiving which David prayed when God delivered him from his enemies. This prayer based on Psalm 34 expresses this same sentiment. God delivers those who are weak and broken and powerless.

Time to Test Your Faith

From Bishop Robert Barron. “Friends, today’s Gospel concludes John’s reflection on the Eucharist. At the end of this remarkable chapter, we are faced with a question that defines the Christian faith: Will you follow Christ? May we always answer as Peter does.”

A Choice to Make

From Scott Hahn. “This Sunday’s Mass readings conclude a four-week meditation on the Eucharist. The Twelve Apostles in today’s Gospel are asked to make a choice—either to believe and accept the New Covenant He offers in His Body and Blood or return to their former ways of life.” Continue reading.

Real Presence

From Fr. Richard Rohr of the Center for Action and Contemplation. “The very notion of presence is inherently and necessarily relational and also somehow embodied. Note that Jesus did not say ‘Think about this,’ ‘Prove this,’ ‘Look at this,’ ‘Carry this around,’ and, surely not, ‘Argue about this.’ He just said, ‘Eat this . . . and drink all of you’. As Augustine would preach later, the message is that you are what you eat and drink!” Continue reading.

Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?

From Bishop Robert Barron. “In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus’ followers reacting to his shocking teaching about eating his flesh and drinking his blood by saying, ‘This is a hard saying; who can accept it?’ To understand Jesus’ meaning, we must understand that he’s not using symbolic or metaphorical language. He’s speaking words of ‘Spirit and life’ which bring into being precisely what they signal.”