24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Get behind me, Satan. (Mark 8:33)
Try to imagine the look on Peter’s face when Jesus rebuked him. He must have gone from a beaming smile to a forlorn frown in a split second.
Did Peter love Jesus when he said, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29)? Yes! Did he love Jesus when he urged him to avoid the cross? Yes! Peter loved Jesus with his whole heart on both occasions, even though the first response came from God, and the second one didn’t.
If it was hard for the great St. Peter to recognize the difference between godly truth and ungodly temptation, what hope could there possibly be for us? Sure, there are times when it’s not hard to spot the influence of the devil. But what about those times when we feel we are being sincere and honest, but we’re still wrong?
What about those times when we say something out of a good motivation, but it ends up being the wrong thing at the wrong time?
The first thing we need to do is admit that we don’t always get it right. We’re going to make mistakes and hurt people, even when we have good intentions. There will even be times, humbling though they may be, when our good intentions end up serving devilish purposes. Praise God for his mercy and patience!
Second, we need to know that the Holy Spirit wants to teach us how to live. St. Paul tells us that no matter how inscrutable the wisdom of God may be, “we have the mind of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 2:16). This means we really can learn how to discern spiritual things.
Over time, Peter learned how to discern God’s voice. He learned how to sort through his intentions and be a clearer instrument of God’s grace. We can too. Just keep telling yourself, “I have the mind of Christ. I believe that the Holy Spirit is my guide.” With this little statement of faith, you can develop the gift of discernment.
“Lord, show me your ways so that I may discern your will.”
Isaiah 50:4-9
Psalm 116:1-6, 8-9
James 2:14-18
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] (1891-1942)
Carmelite, martyr, co-patron of Europe
Love of the Cross, 24/11/1934 (©Institute of Carmelite Studies)
"Let him take up his cross, and follow me"
Being one with Christ is our sanctity, and progressively becoming one with him our happiness on earth, the love of the cross in no way contradicts being a joyful child of God. Helping Christ carry his cross fills one with a strong and pure joy, and those who may and can do so, the builders of God's kingdom, are the most authentic children of God. And so those who have a predilection for the way of the cross by no means deny that Good Friday is past and that the work of salvation has been accomplished. Only those who are saved, only children of grace, can in fact be bearers of Christ's cross. Only in union with the divine Head does human suffering take an expiatory power.
To suffer and to be happy although suffering, to have one's feet on the earth, to walk on the dirty and rough paths of this earth and yet to be enthroned with Christ at the Father's right hand, to laugh and cry with the children of this world and ceaselessly sing the praises of God with the choirs of angels - this is the life of the Christian until the morning of eternity breaks forth.