Sometimes, when I HEAR God’s Word, I have follow-up questions. An example: the 1st line of the 1st Reading we heard today: “The Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious; I have not turned away.” Sounds straight-forward, NO! What’s NOT said: “Why did God open my ears NOW? & to hear what? The BIG reason is God WANTS to lead us & coach us, & protect us, & prevent us from being manipulated. But for God’s will to be done in us, it comes at a cost: we must surrender ourselves completely to Jesus Christ.
The Gospel SHOWS us that Peter CLEARLY underestimates what Jesus is actually looking for. I believe that for Jesus to say to Peter, his chosen #1 Apostle, “get behind me, Satan,” Peter must have made an OUTRAGEOUS & insulting proposal to Jesus. I would have LOVED to be a fly on the wall to hear what Peter said to Jesus, for Jesus to get that angry & forceful! Peter CLEARLY thinks he’s SMARTER than Jesus. So, imagine Peter cooking up a plan and then saying to Jesus, “Look, you don’t have to die, & we 12 don’t have to die. I know a guy who knows a guy: HE can save us; he can smuggle us ALL out of town, & we can escape this death you’re talking about!” What chutzpah: suggesting that some MAN & NOT GOD is going to save us! And Peter STILL thinks God’s plan is negotiable: that we commit ourselves for a while, & then we can STOP being faithful to God & Jesus when being a discipleship starts to have a personal cost.
So, in addition to knowing that Peter’s way is NOT the way to heaven or to Christ’s heart, what can we take away from today? It seems to me it goes back to something else NOT mentioned in the Gospel, and that’s your baptism & mine. We are baptized, NOT to be like everyone else. & we’re not MEANT to be swayed by whatever’s politically popular at any time. We’re called as Roman Catholic Christians to GIVE ourselves away in love: give away our hearts & energy, give away our skills & talents, BECAUSE ALL those things AREN’T OURS alone: they’re ALL on loan to us for others, & for the betterment of our world & our neighborhoods, so that we can bring some HOPE & LIGHT & JOY to them. I received some joy this past week: there was a 3-year-old girl attending the baptism of two young boys, & when we lit the baptismal candles, she started singing “Happy Birthday!” We all laughed, knowing that NEW BIRTH was happening at that baptism before our eyes. What a great reminder it was. May the Holy Eucharist we receive today boost our energy & courage to put our Christian faith into action for others, and may each of our Christ-lights SHINE! Amen. Love, Fr. Chris