Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 9, 2018 - Thursday in the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jer 31:31-34 and Matt 16:13-23]THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2018 THURSDAY IN THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [St. Edith Stein or Teresa Benedicta of the Cross] [Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Matthew 16:13-23] [Jesus] turned and said to. Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” [Matthew] The passage today from the Gospel According to Matthew is well-known because of the profession of faith that Peter makes in response to Jesus’ question, “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus then declares him to be the rock on which “I will build my church.” So far, so good. But then Jesus predicts his own suffering and death and resurrection. That does not fit in Peter’s picture of “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It is clear that Peter is missing part of the big picture in God’s thinking. It is common to hear the expression, “the scandal of the cross.” Indeed Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ prediction reflects the “scandal” as Peter would see it of the Son of the Living God being arrested and executed. The resurrection would have been outside Peter’s frame of reference. Yet, all of this happened. Peter indeed became the rock on which the church is built and his successor is Pope Francis. And the cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. Both these realities are part of the big picture and challenge us to think as God thinks. AMEN
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