Hello all,
I didn't have a public mass call this morning so I celebrated mass in the friary chapel. This doesn't happen all that often but it is very prayerful for me and a wonderful time to reflect, pray, and savor the mass.
While I didn't prepare a homily for today I did pray with the readings and I wanted to share my thoughts.
I love these reading! I especially love the connection between the Gospel reading from last Sunday to today.
Last Sunday we heard about the question that Jesus asked, "who do you say that I am?" It was Simon Peter who spoke up and professed that Jesus "is the Christ the Son of the Living God."
In response to this Jesus called him "Peter" the Rock upon which His Church will be built. This Church will even withstand the onslaught of the powers of hell, time, and last into eternity.
Then today we hear Jesus warn the Apostles that He is going to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die, but rise from the dead. In response to this Simon Peter confronts Jesus and tries to prevent Him from going. Jesus then says to Peter, "Get behind me satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are not thinking as God does but as humans do."
Notice the contrast!
One moment Peter is professing faith in Jesus that was revealed to him from the Father and then very next moment he is no longer thinking and acting based on the inspiration of God. One moment Peter is being praised by Jesus and the next he is being called "satan". One moment Peter is made to be the building block for the Universal Church and then next moment Jesus is calling him an "obstacle" to His work.
I love this moment in the Gospels because at times I feel like I can identify with what St. Peter is going through. There are moments when I feel like I am part of God's plan and the very next moment my sin, pride, and weakness is an obstacle to Our Lord.
So often we get this silly idea in our mind that saints are perfect. We fail to realize that it is stories like this that illustrate what the life of a saint is really like.
We all, sinners and saints, are part of God's plan and then obstacles to that plan.
It is so difficult to accept God's mercy, at times, because we often fail to forgive ourselves. I think the secret to forgiving ourselves as freely as God does is by accepting this reality. We are all sinners and saints at times. One moment we are part of God's plan and then the next we are His obstacle.
If we look at St. Peter we should be able to see something profound to hope in. God can still do great things in us even if we are very good at being His obstacle. St. Peter was a formidable obstacle to Jesus and yet he is still a saint. St. Peter even was running away from persecution the day that he died. Jesus appeared to him, Peter realized his weakness, and he turned around to return to Rome to be crucified upside down.
I love St. Peter and I think that his example of humanity, mistakes, and humility is good example to meditate on today and for life.
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