Sunday, August 31, 2008: Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27

A few weeks ago, I met a successful business man in Ohio who had decided to sell his business and devote his life fully to doing God’s work. He felt God calling him to ministry. His family could not make any sense of this. They thought he was crazy. As I listened to his story, I remembered my own experience when I was discerning my vocation to the priesthood. Some of my family members who today are very supportive of my vocation tried to convince me not to follow this path. They reminded me of my dream of being a medical doctor. They also told me how I could save many human lives as a doctor. At the time, they could not understand why I will chose to become a priest rather than a medical doctor. They thought they were doing me a favor by offering their strong advices against my decision. They were doing what they did because they loved me and they wanted to protect me from any future frustrations choosing a very difficult and less “rewarding” vocation.


St. Paul in today’s second reading warns us not to conform ourselves to this age but to discern the will of God in our lives. The will of God for our lives is not always rosy and so when we compare it to the wisdom of this age, we will think it is foolish. Neither the family of the Ohio business man nor some members of my own family understood what the will of God was for me. Their discernment was the wisdom of this age and not the wisdom of God. St. Peter in today’s gospel fell into the same trap. In the gospel last week, he professed Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God. Jesus told him that it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to him but the Father in heaven. It is obvious that this profession was not the wisdom of Peter; it was the revelation of God. This is clear in today’s gospel. He doesn’t understand the true kingship or the Messianic role of Jesus. His understanding of it is solely in human thinking. He calls Jesus Christ aside and tries to advice him against the way of the Cross. At this point, Peter takes on the role of the tempter, offering Jesus Christ a different path. Peter is persuading him not to follow the true path, which is the way of the Cross. He is offering him an easy way. He does this because he loves Jesus and wants to protect him. There is a strong message here for every one of us. Your tempter might be the person who loves you the most. Satan will use your closest friends and the people you love to tempt you. In this case, it was Peter. In your case, it might be your spouse, your child, and your boss at work or a close co-worker. Always keep your eyes open when you are called to a different path apart from the one you think God has called you to. Do not assume that because this is from someone I love, it must be the right path. Also, we need to careful how we offer people different paths. While we have a responsibility to make sure family members are making good Christian decisions, don’t always respond with your head but give strong prayerful considerations and careful discernment before you offer the person a different path.


Jesus tells Peter to get behind him. Origen one of the Father’s of the church suggests that this means, He (Jesus) is leading the way and not Peter. This makes sense. Peter is not the way to the Father. It is Jesus Christ. He has no authority to show Jesus Christ the true way. We must always keep this in mind in our own lives. We are not leading the way. Jesus Christ is leading the way. This means, we must always ask him to show us the way that we might follow. His way is not always rosy. His way is the way of the Cross. We too must take up our crosses and follow him on this way. If we follow this way, we may never go astray and this way will lead us to eternal life with him in heaven.