Greetings on this the Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: Genesis 9:1-13; Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23; Mark 8:27-33
What we expect
In our sacred readings today, we encounter the difference between what we expect from God and what God plans to do. We want the Gospel of Comfortable living. We get the message of Hope within the real life experiences.
Christ has Come
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
If the chronology of the Gospel of Mark is reasonably correct in simply general terms,by the time Jesus asks and Peter confesses him the Christ:
- The Cure of a Demoniac
- The Cure of Simon’s Mother-in-Law.
- Other Healings.
- The Cleansing of a Leper.
- The Healing of a Paralytic.
- A Man with a Withered Hand.
- The Mercy of Jesus.
- The Calming of a Storm at Sea.
- The Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac.
- Jairus’s Daughter and the Woman with a Hemorrhage.
- The Return of the Twelve.
- The Feeding of the Five Thousand.
- The Walking on the Water.
- The Healings at Gennesaret.
- The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith.
- The Healing of a Deaf Man.
- The Feeding of the Four Thousand.
- The Blind Man of Bethsaida.
Not to be snarking at Saint Peter, but the epiphany of Jesus being the Christ isn’t a big jump in logic. It is a reasonable assessment given the list above of 18 miracle stories (of which thousands upon thousands benefited). Peter is more than ready to claim Jesus as the Anointed as clearly he is bringing about the relief everyone expects the anointed to bring.
Rainbows in the Sky
God added:
“This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.”
The Sign of Noah from the first reading in the Book of Genesis reveals that even in a changing environment on Earth, with its variety of storms, earthquakes, wildfire, drought, flood, etc, the Lord is helping us and will not allow humanity to be wiped out. Rather, even in difficulty, the Lord is here and aiding us.
Suffering for the Good
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
We Like Rainbows
We LIKE rainbows. We like the Jesus of Galilee. We don’t like the Jesus of Jerusalem and the three predictions of his passion.
Suffering for Good? – Not so much.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Peter! What are you thinking? Is Peter wrong? Well, not in the context of his thinking. He/we/all of us like what we like. Suffering and obedience, not so much.
Embracing All of Life
Peter has the same challenge we all do, needing to embrace life in all its challenges and setbacks. Doing good is not without some pains. But the joy of knowing you participate in the salvific plans of God should be reassuring and even comforting that doing good is not all in vain.
Personal Reflection
There is no resurrection without the Cross. There is no Cross without the Incarnation and a life lived with the blessed hope of eternal life.
This is the Year of Hope. Make no mistake we are at the point of Peter’s denial. We want the Gospel of a Comfortable Life. What we have is a gospel of reassurance of a good life with all its pains and eternal life with the Good Shepherd.
Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022025.cfm
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry