YES, LORD, BUT...

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September 3, 2017
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

First reading (Jeremiah 20:7-9)
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 63:2-9)
Second reading (Romans 12:1-2)
Gospel (Matthew 16:21-27)


In the gospel reading for this Sunday (from the account of Matthew), we hear of Peter going against the revelation of Jesus that he would suffer, die and be raised. We also hear of Jesus rebuking Peter, making clear that Peter, the “rock” upon which Jesus would build His church, becomes a stumbling stone because he fails to understand the revelation and insists on his human perception and expectation. We also hear of Jesus proclaiming “whoever wishes to come after me deny himself take up his cross and follow me.”

What did Peter lack or do wrong? Where did Peter fail? He failed in discernment, in understanding. He failed in these because at that moment, he had yet to surrender his whole self to the will of God. It was God’s will to send His Son for Him to suffer, die and be raised, yet Peter was against it. In the many times we look for God, how many times have hesistated to give ourselves to what God asks of us? How many times have we said, “yes, Lord, but...” Peter did the same when He came and followed Jesus but rejected His revelation.

We can also find the same call in the second reading (from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans). “Offer your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God... Do not conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” We are invited to give ourselves up, our whole selves, to God, to His plan, to His love so that we may be transformed into true Christians worthy of the vocation to love.

May our thirst for God be “like a fire burning” in our hearts as we may hear in the first reading (from the book of the prophet Jeremiah). And may our surrendering to God’s will be equal to our cry, thirst for and  “yes” to God. May our intention in coming and following of Jesus be backed by our willingness to accept and carry our crosses.

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