24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (“B”)
September 13, 2009

Q. 545: Wasn’t Jesus a bit hard on Peter today, calling him a “Satan”?

A. 545:
Today’s episode (Mark 8:27-35) marks a turning point in Mark’s gospel. For the apostles, it is all about expectations – their anticipations about what would happen if Jesus really is the long-awaited Messiah, and their opinions about what their own discipleship would mean for them in the future.

Each one of us tends to put people in a box of our own description, after a brief observation of their words and behavior. We tend to label people with a super-glue label, one very hard to remove. For example, one person is apparently just a wind-bag, so we listen but ignore him on all matters. Other folks are perceived to be gossipers, so we are careful about what information we share in their presence, if any. Many politicians hold unjust and immoral positions on life issues, so we distrust everything they say on every topic.

The people in Jesus’ time were no different in comparing and contrasting Jesus with known public figures of the past. They categorized Jesus as another John the Baptist, or Elijah, or a different prophet. Peter came closest – he recognized that Jesus was truly the Messiah. But his understanding of that role was the common one, a political figure who would restore Israel to prominence among the nations.

Jesus brought them back to the basics of Faith 101. They were to expect the unexpected; to believe in mystery, and to simply let that mystery unfold before their eyes. Yes, he was indeed the Messiah, but until they understood what that really meant, they were to keep quiet about it and not inflame the false expectations of others. Both the role of the Messiah and the role of a Disciple would involve suffering – something totally unexpected by the culture, something that did not fit their pre-conceived notions. So Jesus was telling Peter to stop putting him in a pre-labeled box, a devilish practice that not permit mystery to unfold.

KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! Prepare your hearts to really trust in Jesus alone. The cost of discipleship may be very high, and requires us to give up all dangerous attachments to power and possessions – i.e., we need to reset our expectations and priorities (CCC #2544).

Deacon Paul Rooney
Mary Our Queen Parish, Omaha

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