Dear Friends,

Do not be shocked or distracted that this week’s Gospel in which Jesus refers to Peter as Satan; immediately follows their conversation (which we heard last week) in which Simon bar Jonah correctly proclaims Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of the Living God;” and Jesus gives him the name, “Rock” (petros), rendered Peter. It seems odd, that Jesus could be so fickle … in one moment so laudatory: “Blessed are you … flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father …” And then, after a concerned and well-intentioned Peter attempts to dissuade Jesus from going up to Jerusalem because of what He says will happen to Him there; Jesus rebukes him, “Get behind me, Satan!” But, why? Peter was only looking out for Jesus’ good, right?

No. Remember at the end of last week’s Gospel, after Peter blurts out the right answer as to who Jesus is; Jesus “strictly ordered His disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ.” He does this because they did not understand the meaning of His Messiahship according to God’s loving design … they did not understand that the power of Love and not force/violence was the way of the Messiah. They needed time to listen and learn from the Master before they spoke. They/we need to admit that our personal perspective, valid as it might be to us personally, is probably not the whole picture; and depending on the depth of experience that each of us may have, that perspective can be incredibly wise or woefully limited. So, while some might conjure up in their minds the image of a “finger-waving” Jesus scolding Simon Peter; rather, today’s Gospel continues with Jesus proclaiming the Good News and, in particular, revealing God’s plan of how to defeat the power of evil by not avoiding adversity and pretending that it does not exist or creating our own version of reality that makes us feel good about ourselves; but through love and sacrifice. When Jesus begins to reveal God’s version of who the Messiah truly is and pours out His heart instructing them as to the depths to which He loves us and what will be required of Him; Peter, not liking what he is hearing, stops listening and closes his mind and heart to learning God’s Will and begins to make his own version of reality. The irony is that Jesus, whom Peter had just declared the Son of the Living God was sharing with them what His Father had planned and Peter makes himself greater than God, under the guise of charity, and rejects God by saying, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

It is important for each of us to understand that Jesus’ rebuke to Peter is also a warning to us when we think that God is demanding too much or when we think we know better than He does. When we attempt to avoid challenges that require proper sacrifice; when we stop trying to understand God’s perspective on life and love and simply settle for making ourselves comfortable in this world, without an eye toward eternity, we are called to remember that we are the disciples of Jesus, “the Christ, the Son of the Living God;” and as such, we follow the Master, not attempt to lead Him where we want Him to go. Our Lord states for the good of our immortal souls: “Get behind me;” in other words, “Follow Me! Be my disciple! Don’t try to lead me away from my Father’s Will.” Let us take seriously, therefore, our faith and our discipleship. Our life … eternal life … depends upon it! Be of good cheer, have a blessed week and a safe Labor Day weekend!

Be of good cheer and have a blessed and restful week!

Msgr. Grous