Gospel
Mk 8:27-33

Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

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.
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.”

Reflections

“You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Several years ago, a group of American lawyers and judges went on a religious retreat to the Dominican Republic. Part of the retreat included being hosted in the homes of families in remote mountain villages, where English was as scarce as electricity or running water.

Before they left the United States, the group spent time in prayer and various preparations, including translating helpful phrases into Spanish so they could communicate with their host families. How would they explain in Spanish their occupations? How could they explain the various levels of judges in the complex American legal system?

Once there, they were overwhelmed with love and kindness, and an incredible generosity and sharing on the part of their hosts. They were honored guests in these homes and special meals were cooked over humble stoves, fueled only by sticks. Love and affection was showered on them as they were welcomed completely into these families with whom they could barely communicate.

It was only later that they realized they never had a chance to try out one part of their well-practiced Spanish. No one had asked them, “Where do you work?” or “What do you do?” Their prominent positions in the United States meant nothing to these simple people who loved and cared for them not because of who they were but simply because they were.

Perhaps that is the same lesson Jesus gives us in today’s gospel when he urges us to live and think by his standards, not those of the world in which we live. The trappings we surround ourselves with and the honors and titles we collect as if they are some kind of protection from the world are not God’s world, but ours. It’s not that these things we have in our lives are bad, rather it’s the strong attachments we sometimes feel for them or the ways we can use them to replace relationships in our lives.

When Jesus asks the apostles who they say he is and they tell him they believe he is the Messiah, he strictly orders them not tell anyone. Was that because he didn’t want anyone else to know or because he knew they really didn’t get it. Maybe they were still looking for the Messiah who would save them from any sufferings and surround them with glory and riches.

Jesus is not here to take us away from suffering and pain but to enter into the reality of the pain and suffering we face as humans. He stays with us in the difficulties. His kingdom isn’t one of detachment from the world but of being a part of the world with us, in all of its joys and sorrows.

This is the meaning of the incarnation; that he is ready to die and suffer for us because He loves us.