In last week’s gospel, Simon Peter was praised for his
belief in Jesus and was given a new name.
Simon would now be Peter, the rock upon which Jesus would build the
Church. In today’s gospel, Jesus calls
Peter “Satan” – an adversary – and the Lord tells him he is an obstacle – a
stumbling stone – on the path of God’s will.
We have to acknowledge that we are like Peter. What happened to him can happen to each of
us. All of us are capable of both
wonderfully holy and strong moments as well as frightening harmful words and
actions, when we couldn’t be more wrong.
And yet the Lord does not give up on us, as he did not give
up on Peter. God will set us straight,
for sure, in various ways, and help us to learn and grow through our mistakes,
but even in all that, the Lord’s dealings with us, like those of a good parent,
are done with love and have no condemnation.
At the start of today’s gospel, before Peter interrupted the
Lord, Jesus began to show his disciples the way that he has to follow: to
Jerusalem, where the passion, cross and death awaits him, but then he will be
raised on the third day. As disciples
who have chosen Jesus as their master, it is imperative that the disciples
follow Jesus and imitate him. As
disciples, they look to him in order to learn from him how they are to live
their lives.
Jesus never calls those who follow him “believers” because
one can believe in Jesus without then becoming disciples. It is disciples that the Lord needs, not
believers. There are many today who
believe in Jesus, but are unwilling to be his disciples. Belief, of course, is a necessary step in
following Jesus, but for the true Christian, it doesn’t end with belief. There has to be action.
Being a disciple demands much more than being a believer. Discipleship
is a daily endeavor. It requires more
than going to Mass on Sunday and going to confession once a year. Disciples have a personal relationship with
Jesus and are active members of the Church, the community that under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit carries on the mission of Jesus, building the
Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.
Today’s gospel raises a question we need to ask ourselves, “Are
we committed each day to being disciples, seeking to follow and imitate and
learn from Jesus?” Again, it echoes what
many of us memorized as children from the Baltimore catechism. Being a disciple is the reason we were
created, for “God made me to know, love, and serve him in this world so as to
be happy with him forever in the next.”
St. Paul writes to the Romans in the second reading today with
a similar message, namely, that God wants us to offer him everything we have
and are as a living sacrifice. We know
that Jesus has offered the one, perfect sacrifice with his death on the cross. We enter into that mystery each time we
celebrate the Eucharist. But now, as
Jesus’ disciples, we too give everything that we have and are to God in loving
response. In doing that, Paul assures
us, our minds are renewed and we are transformed and able to do God’s will. Doing God’s will is genuine, faithful
discipleship, which is, as St. Paul says “good and pleasing and perfect.”
The challenge, of course, is what made Simon Peter rebuke
the Lord. No one wants to suffer or see
someone they love suffer. It goes against
our human nature. Yet, in the mysterious
ways of God, suffering and death is the way to eternal life and perfect
happiness. Jesus is very clear that we
all have to take up our cross and follow after him. There is no way around it. Everyone has to suffer, but as with Jesus,
the suffering can be redemptive and powerful and a source of great grace for
ourselves and for others.
It can be exhausting and seemingly impossible at times. That’s what Jeremiah is expressing in today’s
first reading. He has been faithful to
all that God has asked of him and it has brought him nothing but pain and
persecution. He feels as if he has been
tricked. But he knows that he has to carry on and
speak God’s word, for it is, as he says, “like fire burning in my heart.” God has been with him the whole time and will
bring him through the worse of it.
Jesus calls us to be faithful disciples, willing to give
everything we have and to walk the path of suffering, trusting the whole time
that it all ends in glory. One day at a
time, with God’s help, we can follow Jesus.
No other road will end with the unimaginable joy and peace this one
will.
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