22nd Sunday A

22nd Sunday of the Year A
Readings: Jeremiah 20:7‑9  Romans 12:1‑2  Matthew 16:21‑27

            In last Sunday's Gospel Jesus blessed Simon as the Rock (petros) of the church for confessing him as the Messiah and the Son of the living God.  But in this week's Gospel Jesus has to condemn Peter as "Satan" and a "stumbling stone" (skandalon) for failing to accept the necessity of the Messiah's suffering and death on his way to resurrection and glory.  As we learn of the need for Jesus' disciples to also embrace the way of self denial and the cross, let us cry out to God for help with the refrain of this Sunday's responsorial psalm: "My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God" (Ps 63).
            In the first reading the prophet Jeremiah is struggling with the suffering that his mission has caused him.  In bold language, he accuses God of "seducing" him into speaking a message of "violence and outrage" to the sinful people of Judah and Jerusalem.  He then laments bitterly that his fidelity to God's word has brought him only "derision and reproach all the day."   Despite his aversion to his prophetic mission, Jeremiah admits that he cannot escape it.  Although he has repeatedly decided to "speak in God's name no more," Jeremiah must inevitably succumb to the power of God's word.   
                                    But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
                                    imprisoned in my bones;
                                    I grow weary holding it in,
                                    I cannot endure it.
            In the Romans reading Paul is beginning the section of the letter which exhorts his readers to live the ethical demands of the Christian life.  He adapts cultic language to describe what is expected of the Roman Christians in their new lives.  Although they do not offer animal sacrifices to God as  was done in the Jewish temple, Paul urges the Roman converts "to  offer (their) bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to  God . . ."  Paul believes that Jesus' death and resurrection have  begun the new age expected by the Jews.  Christians, therefore, cannot "conform" themselves to the old sinful age but must be "transformed" so that they "judge what is God's will, what is good, pleasing and perfect."
            After Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah which we heard in last Sunday's Gospel (Matt 16:13‑20), Jesus begins to unveil a whole new dimension to his mission: the necessity for his suffering and death in Jerusalem at the hands of the religious leaders.  Peter, apparently still full of self importance over the lofty title and blessings given to him, attempts to correct Jesus with the words: "May you be spared, Master! God forbid that any such thing ever happen to you!"
            In attempting to dissuade Jesus from his mission, Peter is performing the same function as Satan in the temptation scenes (Matt 4:1‑11).  Therefore, Jesus must reprimand him in the most severe language.

                                    "Get out of my sight, you satan!
                                    You are a stumbling block to me.
                                    You are not judging by God's standards but by man's."
Jesus then goes on to insist that not only are the cross and death necessary for him as the Messiah, but they will also be the path for his disciples who follow him.
"If one wishes to come after me, he must deny
                                    his very self, take up his cross, and begin to
                                    follow in my footsteps.
As he journeys to his own cross, Jesus offers his would be followers a paradoxical, yet priceless, wisdom.
                                    "Whoever would save his life will lose it,
                                    but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
To spend one's life in attempting to gain the whole world, as Satan had suggested in his temptations (Matt 4:1‑11), will only lead to self destruction.
                                    "What profit would a man show if he were to gain the
                                    whole world and ruin himself in the process?
                                    What can a man offer in exchange for his very self?"