Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

September 30, 2018 

Readings:

First Reading: Numbers 11: 25-29

Psalm: 19

Second Reading: James 5: 1-6

Gospel reading according to Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48

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Homily:

One of the apostles, John, while moving around the countryside on one occasion, maybe they were sent by Jesus two by two to preach the good news, saw and heard a man, not belonging in their group, used the name of Jesus in expelling demons.  “At that time, John said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us’.” (Mk. 9: 38).  Maybe this man saw and witnessed how Jesus expelled demons out from the body of a man in the synagogue or in the street healing the possessed man, or in any other occasion when Jesus was curing a possessed man.  John stopped the man in healing the possessed man using the name of Jesus, because he was not a follower of Jesus and did not belong to their group.  This also happened in the time of Moses, when God took some of the spirit that He was given to Moses and imparted to the seventy chosen men (and maybe to some women) to become leaders of different tribes of Israel and they prophesied, and it so happened that other two men included in the list of leaders, Eldad and Medad, were left behind in their tents, yet they also received the spirit of the Lord and prophesied. When Joshua, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, learned this he reported it to Moses (see first reading, Numbers 11: 25-29).  It is difficult to drive away demons or even Satan.  It needs courage, strength, power and confidence to self and to the one invoking or using the name to deliver demons and Satan out of the body being possess by the evil spirit.  The one who is trying to remove the evil spirit to the one possess using the name of Jesus, I think, has faith, belief and confidence in Jesus even though he does not belong to the followers of Jesus. 

Using the name of Jesus for the good of others is as if sharing in the spirit of Jesus. Jesus is not a kind of leader who does not want to share his spirit, but rather he is a good teacher and leader who shares his knowledge to the future leaders.  He trains others to become good leaders.   “Jesus replied, ‘Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.  For whoever is not against us is for us’.” (Mk. 9: 39-40). The man although does not follow Jesus, but the fact that he is invoking the name of Jesus in driving out demons means he believes in the power of Jesus and he is not an enemy of Jesus.  He does not speak ill against Jesus, therefor he is for Jesus.

Then, Jesus gave some examples on how to become truly followers and disciples of him, who also received the spirit of service, understanding, of acceptance and of love, etc. even though they do not belong to the group of Jesus. On the one hand, if “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward” (Mk. 9: 41).  Despite he or she does not follow Jesus but still helps and supports his followers, in our first example, ie., giving water to drink to his disciples because they are disciples of Jesus, he/she also receives a reward.  

On the other hand, if the disciples as well as we, who believe in Jesus, bring anyone who does not follow Jesus, to sin, because he or she is not a disciple of him yet have a chance to believe in him also, we receive a heavy punishment. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and were thrown into the sea” (Mk. 9: 42). Even more so to those who believe we bring to sin. And again, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off   It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire” (Mk. 9: 43).  If we use our hands to sin, like stealing, hurting others with our fists, abusing our hands in many dirty works, we have to cut our hands, meaning we have to stop whatever bad things our hands are doing which are against the design of God – which is to lend our helping hands to others in need. And again, “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna” (Mk. 9: 45). If our feet cause us to sin, cut them off or rather avoid going into those places that bring us to sin.  “And if your eye causes you to sin, plunk it out.  Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mk. 9: 47-48).  Even our eyes, if we look with bad intentions, malice, wickedness that make our eyes fall into sin, again, avoid and (“ibaling sa iba ang tingin”) and do not look those things that make our eyes dirty and sinful.  Do not use our hands, feet, eyes, our parts of the body to commit sin and leading other members of our body into sin.  In other words, let us not bring the members of the Church, as body of Christ, into sin, but rather bring them to fulfilling the plan of God for all of us, to bring love and holiness of each member of the Body of Christ.

As followers of Jesus, and as members of the Body of Christ, we must be patient to the non-followers or non-believers of him as well as to his believers.  We too have responsibilities to lead them to good, morally upward activities, guiding them to the true commandments of Jesus especially the commandment of love, rather than bringing them to commit sin, bring them in misery, put them in misfortune and even death.  We, the hands, feet, eyes and other members of the Body of Jesus Christ, have to introduce also who Jesus is to those who do not know him, and to let them understand his religion. Let us allow them to experience the love of Jesus and let them do the same to others as parts and members of the Body of Jesus Christ, the Church.   

Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

 September 23, 2018 

Readings:

First Reading: Wisdom 2: 12, 17-20

Psalm: 54

Second Reading: James 3: 16 – 4: 3

Gospel reading according to Mark 9: 30-37

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Homily:

From Caesarea Philippi down to the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, Jesus continued his journey with his twelve chosen disciples.  He wanted that nobody among the crowds knew that they were leaving the area so they could not follow them, to avoid mass mobs.  “Jesus and his disciples began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it” (Mk. 9: 30).  So, once more, they left the place in secret.  He also wanted to have a private talk and continue his teaching with his chosen disciples about the Christ (or Messiah) and the Son of Man/God, while walking.  “He was teaching his disciples and telling them, ‘The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise’.” (Mk 9: 31).  He explained again to them as what he did in Caesarea Philippi what will happen to the Christ, the Anointed One, to the Son of Man, that “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Mas will rise.”  As what we have learned in the last Sunday gospel, “. . . that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days” (Mk. 8: 31), these men were “the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,” where in the Book of Wisdom, it was given the reasons why the Son of Man must suffer and die in the hands of these men. “The wicked said, ‘Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us, he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law, and charges us with violations of our training. . . . With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience.  Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him” (Wis. 2:1, 19-20).  These wicked men did not know that the Son of Man and Son of God was already knew that he will suffer revilement and torture, condemn to a shameful death, for the sake of many, for he knew it as the plan and will of His Father. And as what I have said in my last Sunday homily, “More worse is that he was sold by his disciple, denied by his friend, and abandoned by many while beaten down to the ground, scourged all over his body, ridiculed by putting crown of thorns on his head, lampooned by his own people in front of the Roman procurator, carrying wooden cross, and crucified on the cross he carried like a criminal, and died, for the salvation of many, but on the third day he rose again.”   

Because it was not yet his time to die a terrible death on the cross, his disciples did not understand what Jesus was teaching them. “But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him” (Mk 9: 32).  They did not yet comprehend the real meaning of Christ, the Messiah, the Son of Man and of God, of the Anointed One in the real sense, but only they knew the Christ or Messiah is a king of an empire who is seated on a throne with crown on his head and a scepter on his hand, giving commands to serve him by his minions and subordinates. This Christ is an earthly king in the minds of the disciples, who will liberate them from their foreign conqueror – the Roman Empire (at that time) while many are serving him. They were thinking that Jesus as Christ, the Anointed One, is an earthly king who will rule the Israelites, and at the same time as chosen disciples, they are the priority and have the privilege to seat and stand at the right and the left sides of his throne.  But since they did not understand what Jesus said, they were afraid to ask question to clarify what he meant.  The disciples also were discussing something among themselves instead of listening intently to what Jesus was saying; it was very important than what Jesus was telling them about the Son of Man.

When they reached Capernaum they entered at the house of Simon Peter and his brother Andrew to have some rest.  Before sitting, Jesus sensed and recognized that something was going on between the disciples.  “They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way’?” (Mk. 9: 33).  As a free man and without hidden agenda, Jesus can easily ask question.  Although Jesus knew what they were talking about for he can read the minds, he pretended that he did not know what they were arguing and debating about, and he asked them question, “What were you arguing about on the way?”   “But they remained silent” (Mk. 9: 34).  The respond of his disciples was silence, keeping their mouth shut, without answering Jesus’ question.  As if, again, they waiting others first to start talking about the item they were arguing.   St. Mark, the evangelist, revealed to us what the disciples were arguing all about.  “They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was greatest” (Mk. 9: 34).  Each one of them would say to one another that he is the greatest among the group and so he has the right to seat at the side of the throne when Jesus, the Christ, is already seated on the throne as king of Israel.

As true leader, Jesus sat down, called to him his disciples and taught them.  ”Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all’.” (Mk. 9: 35).  Jesus taught them about the real meaning of greatness, though nobody told him about this issue of greatest among his disciples, in humility and simplicity, the least among the lesser ones, and in the service of all.

To make it concrete, he gave an example of being great, and to bring out clearly to the disciples what he was instructing to them, using a child, some says a servant (katulong) as his model of lowliness, servanthood, humility and simplicity, of being insignificant. “Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such as this in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me’.” (Mk. 9: 36-37).  Jesus is like a child/Son of God the Father who disregards himself as God but rather as a man and lives and acts as servant of all and insignificant.  As for a child and/or a servant, it is the last of all and the servant of all, but in truth and in fact, in the eyes of God the Father it is the greatest of all.  Therefore, as what Jesus said to his disciples and to us that whoever makes himself as a child/servant like him receives him and whoever receives him receives not only him but also God the Father who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to us all to be our model and example of humility, simplicity, lowliness and servanthood to become great in the eyes of God, the Father.   

Episcopalis communio

‘Episcopalis communio’ Gives Structure to Upcoming Synod of Bishops

Theme: ‘Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment’

September 18, 2018 16:51 ZENIT Staff Synod18

 

Pope Francis on September 18, 2018, published an “Episcopalis communion” (Apostolic Constitute) to update the structure of the Synod of Bishops first set forth by Pope Paul VI in 1965.

The new document was presented at a press conference in Rome and comes less than a month before the start of Synod 2018, which runs October 3-28, 2018. The synod is on the theme: Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.

After recalling how the Synod was established by Paul VI, and describing the Synod as one of the “most precious legacies of the Second Vatican Council,” Pope Francis emphasizes the “efficacious collaboration” of the Synod of Bishops with the Roman Pontiff on questions of major importance; that is, questions which “require a special knowledge and prudence for the good of the whole Church.” This is according to Vatican News.

Pope Francis said the Church is led to a new “evangelizing stage” towards “a permanent state of mission”. The Synod of Bishops is called “to become an even greater channel” for the evangelization of today’s world.

Pope Paul VI had already foreseen that, with the passage of time, such an institution could be perfected. In 2006, the most recent revision of the Ordo Synodi (the regulations governing the Synod) was promulgated by Benedict XVI. In a particular way, the duties of the General Secretariat of the Synod – composed of the Secretary-General and a special Council of Bishops – were established and gradually strengthened.

The Pope said there has been a growing desire in recent years that the Synod should increasingly become “a particular manifestation of the efficacious realization of the solicitude of the episcopate for the whole church.” This, he explained, is based on “the firm conviction” that all the pastors have been constituted “for service to the holy People of God, to which they themselves pertain in virtue of the sacrament of Baptism.”

Bishops are at the same time “teachers and disciples,” in their duty, which involves their mission, but also their commitment to listening to the voice of Christ, who speaks through the People of God in such a way as to make them “infallibile in credendo,” infallible in believing, according to the Pope. Therefore, the Synod should “become ever more a privileged instrument of listening to the People of God.” It does so by consulting with faithful of the particular churches; because the Pope says, while the Synod is an essentially episcopal institution, it is nonetheless true that it cannot exist “separated from the rest of the faithful.”

Pope Francis said he hoped that the Synod might, “in its own way contribute to the restoration, of unity among all Christians, in accordance with the will of the Lord.” By doing so, it can help the Church “find a way of exercising the [papal] primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation,” as Pope St John Paul said in Ut unum sint.

September 18, 2018 16:51Synod18

The Holy See must Communicate Better among themselves & Women need to have Greater Role in Priestly Formation

Cardinal Ouellet - photo by Alessandro Gisotti

INTERVIEW: Cardinal Ouellet: Dicasteries of the Holy See Must Communicate Better Among Themselves & Women Need to Have Greater Role in Priestly Formation

Responding to Zenit and journalists in Poznan, Discusses What Is Needed to Protect Minors, Current ‘Crisis’ & ‘Rebellion’, Europe, and Synod

September 17, 2018 09:42 Deborah Castellano Lubov Interviews

 

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, has stressed that much must be done to combat this ‘crisis’ in the Church of sexual abuses and the cover ups, noting this involves better coordination among Vatican offices and women playing a bigger role in the formation of priests.

In an interview with Zenit and other journalists in Poznan, Poland, during the CCEE (Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences) Plenary Assembly, Sept. 15, 2018, the Canadian Cardinal made this observation when asked about the appropriate ways to prevent or manage these situations in the future.


In the interview, the Vatican’s Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops also reaffirms the importance of responsibility and regaining credibility effectively, but also of the role of bishops to support the mission of the Church, and how this involves not supporting ‘unjust attacks’ on the Pope. He also observes we are seeing at this time somewhat of a ‘rebellion.’

In the interview, Cardinal Ouellet also speaks about the upcoming Synod on Young People in the Vatican and why solidarity in Europe is not just important for the continent, but for the entire world.
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ZENIT (Deborah Castellano Lubov): Why is working toward solidarity in Europe necessary for Europe’s own functioning and for the world as a whole?

Cardinal Ouellet: I am delighted to participate at least in a part of the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences., It seems to me that this reflection helps to create a culture of solidarity and to encourage volunteering and recognize as well the Church’s contribution in volunteering. Solidarity is a fundamental Christian value that we must develop in our community, in Christian communities. They need to be enlightened by charity and openness to others. They must demonstrate the lived brotherhood, and that makes up part of the mission of the Church. But at the same time, we need to have a vast open horizon, namely all the other people who are also part of the big human family, with a human witness of solidarity, volunteering and mutual help, with respect to welcoming. It is a reflection in progress, that is very promising.

ZENIT (Deborah Castellano Lubov): How is Europe to help transmit the faith to the young, as it seems more and more are disinterested in their Christian roots? In this context, what is your wish for the upcoming synod on young people?

Cardinal Ouellet: Thanks for this question. Obviously, there is a worry in the Church for the future of the transmission of the faith. All the reflection in the Church on the family was aimed towards this objective. First of all, like Pope Francis demonstrates trust in youth, I think the synod, first of all, should express the trust of the Church in young people. This is the most fundamental thing. They have resources, and even visions and abilities as “prophets”, and if they feel supported, here is the Church. That is the first point. Second point. To me it seems there should be a reflection on education. Education in family, in schools, in universities, concretely education, because the young people need models, witnesses, encouragement, but also of parameters, of correction, to go ahead. These are the two points.

ZENIT (Deborah Castellano Lubov): The pedophilia scandal in the Church, throughout various countries, is all over the news. The presidents of the world’s episcopal conferences have been summoned to Rome, Feb. 21-24, 2018, by the Pope for a summit on the protection of minors and vulnerable adults. The Church has already done a lot to face this scourge, but it seems that it is never enough. In your opinion, what has to change to combat it effectively and restore real credibility and trust? What concrete, effective measures must be produced at this meeting?

Cardinal Ouellet: That is a big question. Certainly, with the recent news there is a growing awareness of the gravity of this problem of abuse in the Church. The reports are obviously covering many years, and sometimes we have the impression that nothing has been done recently, when much has been done recently to combat that. But I think something more needs to be done within the Church, and with the formation of priests and certainly more prudence in the choice of bishops. I would say that we would need participation of more women in formation of priests for teaching, for discernment, and for discernment of candidates, for the balance of effectiveness. I think we need more reflection here. The Pope has summoned to Rome all the presidents of the bishops’ conferences, to address in a very broad perspective, this problem. It seems to be at the moment, an American, or Anglo problem, but it is a human problem. It is universal. The Church is very much at the center of attention at this moment, but the problem is much broader than the Church. I hope that the effort that is being done to address the problem by clergy will help to address the problems that exist in society.

ZENIT (Deborah Castellano Lubov): Your Eminence, is there something perhaps in the selecting or vigilance of bishops that you recognize should be improved? Some area that could have been weak and is necessary to improve?

Cardinal Ouellet: On the question on vigilance, as you know, there is the motu proprio of Pope Francis “As a Loving Mother”. So, we need to address the issue, of bad governance of bishops on these questions. This is already something that is implemented, so we are the beginning of this implementation. We need to do some sort of criteria. We also need to coordinate among the various dicasteries of the Holy See to make sure that we, between the Oriental Churches, Propaganda Fide, the Congregation of Bishops, and the Secretariat of State and so on, that we work in the same direction with the same parameters, to apply this and be effective. But I think we will accelerate now, with the recent events, we will accelerate and we hope to develop something more effective.

VATICAN RADIO (Alessandro Gisotti): As Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops and as a pastor, what would you say to the many faithful who feel betrayed many people feel betrayed, sad and angered by these scandals?

Cardinal Ouellet: The faithful see that their pastors need prayers and need to be supported and encouraged. In recent times, they have been strongly under attack. Solidarity must exist within the Church but it is also necessary for people to express their anger, their dissatisfaction, their frustration in complete freedom. It is the way for these problems to be treated. I believe that pastors must not only listen but also invite the people who have suffered to manifest themselves, because if these wounds are not expressed, they will destroy people’s lives. We have seen the suffering and the consequences of abuse in recent years and that the damage is enormous and is lasting in life. There is a work of reparation, of reconciliation that must be carried out.

EWTN (Andrea Gagliarducci): So far, we have been speaking about abuse. The Pope is summoning the world’s bishops together to discuss this in February. As Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, what do you wish to say to the bishops of the world?

Cardinal Ouellet: We are facing a crisis in the life of the Church, a crisis at the level of leadership, of bishops, and also to a certain extent of rebellion. This is a very serious matter that has to be dealt with in a very serious way, not only in a political way. So, I think for example when there is a direct attack against the Holy Father, I think it is a very bad example and a very serious offense. And I do not think it is responding positively because it is also an unjust attack recently. It was part of my message, to the bishops of CCEE, to express solidarity with the Holy Father. It is a conditio sine qua non of solidarity between ourselves as bishops to bring forward the mission of the Church, and I am pleased to recognize that there is something being prepared on the part of this body, of the bishops’ conference, to express to the Holy Father this solidarity in this current context.

September 17, 2018 09:42 Interviews

The Stigmata of Saint Francis

September 17

Dear brothers and sisters,

Peace and all good!

Saint Bonaventure, in his Life of St. Francis, describes Francis as being more inflamed than usual with the love of God as he began a special time of prayer at Mount La Verna in September of 1224. “His unquenchable fire of love for the good Jesus,” Bonaventure writes, “was fanned into such a blaze of flames that so many waters could not quench so powerful a love” (see Song of Solomon 8:6-7).

Happy Feast day of the Stigmata of our Founder and Brother St. Francis of Assisi

Fête des stigmates de Saint François d’assise

Chers frères et sœurs,

La paix et tout est bon !

Saint Bonaventure, dans sa vie de Saint François, explique Francis comme étant plus enflammé que d’habitude avec l’amour de Dieu, comme il a commencé à un moment de prière au Mont La Verna en septembre de 1224. « Son feu inextinguible de l’amour pour le bon Jésus, » Bonaventure écrit, « a été attisé dans telle une apothéose de flammes que tant d’eaux ne pourraient pas étancher un amour si puissant » (voir le Cantique des cantiques 8:6-7).

Heureuse fête des stigmates de notre fondateur et frère de Saint François d’assise

Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

September 16, 2018 

Readings:

First Reading: Isaiah 50: 4c-9a

Psalm: 116

Second Reading: James 2: 14-18

Gospel reading according to Mark 8: 27-35

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Homily:

Jesus, this time, brought along with him his disciples to have a private conversation with them.  It was something personal to him to know. While walking out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi, situated 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee and at the base of Mt. Hermon, the land of many pagans where different religions can be freely exercised, he asked his chosen disciples about himself. “Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.  Along the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’  They said in reply, ‘John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets’.” (Mk. 8: 27-28).  He asked them, “Who do people say that I am?”  He wanted to know how people knew him very well.  Did they get from his preaching his being and essence as one sent by God or just an ordinary human person?  Did they understand who he was?  But the answers he received from his disciples were far from what he was expecting.  They did not yet know who Jesus was.  The people said from whom they heard King Herod said that he was John the Baptist whom he killed during his birthday but raised up from the dead. Other people said he was Elijah, one of the greatest prophets of old, who was promised that he will return in the proper time.  Other people said a someone unknown prophet. 

To know also if these chosen disciples knew him already or they have someone else also in their mind, “And he asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  Peter said to him in reply, ‘You are the Christ’.” (Mk. 8: 29).  Maybe there was silence (but not too long paused); each one of them was thinking who Jesus was to himself; and since nobody would like to give a wrong impression they also waiting each other who will answer first among themselves this question of Jesus.  “But who do you say that I am?”  This question of Jesus to his disciples can be asked also to us who have faith and belief in him. Who is Jesus in our life?  Maybe we can answer, He is my Savior and Redeemer, my Liberator, my personal companion, my Lord and my God, my Creator, my brother and friend, whom I love, my Love, my all, and many other answers and expressions.  But Peter has given the deepest knowledge and understanding about who Jesus was, “You are the Christ,” for it came from God the Father.

When Jesus heard this answer from Peter, he became anxious and precautious.  He became uneasy. So he warned his disciples.  “Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him” (Mk. 8: 30).  Nobody should/must know who he really was. They must hide the true identity of Jesus.  For the meantime it waas okay for the people to believe that he was John the Baptist who rose from the dead, anyway he looked like his cousin John, or the prophet Elijah, or another insignificant prophet. 

But for his twelve disciples he explained what or who is a Christ, the Anointed One.  “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days” (Mk. 8: 31). He is ready to suffer on the hands of the elders, the chief priests and scribes for the sake of many, as what Isaiah prophesied about the Suffering Servant, “The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.  I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plunked my beard, my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting . . .” (from the first reading, Is. 50: 4c-6).  More worse is that he was sold by his disciple, denied by his friend, while beaten down to the ground, scourged all over his body, ridiculed by putting crown of thorns on his head, lampooned by his own people in front of the Roman procurator, carrying wooden cross, and crucified on his cross like a criminal, and died, for the salvation of many, but on the third day he rose again..    

As if Jesus was ready to die, he spoke regularly and naturally, as if it is very easy for him the prophecy.  He can say it over and over, he repeated it casually and without fear.  “He spoke this openly.  Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him” (Mk. 8:32).  Maybe Peter, as chosen leader of the group, cannot bear any longer what Jesus was repeatedly saying about the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of Man, that’s why he took Jesus at one side away from the other disciples and rebuked him.  As if, he was saying to Jesus, that it will not happen to him.

Jesus recognized what Peter wanted to say and do, to keep him away from the plan of God the Father.  He cannot imagine that Peter can deviate from the will of God and do the interest of Satan and of men.   “At this he turned around and looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do’.” (Mk. 8: 33).  He turned around and looked at the other eleven disciples, for maybe they have the same thought as what Peter said and did to him, and at their presence he scolded Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”  Instead of obeying God to offer his will by sacrificing himself as ransom for many, Peter wanted to save his life by disobeying God’s will and plan, for Jesus Christ, and the world but rather obey the promptings of men.

This time, he revealed to his chosen disciples and the crowd who followed them the meaning of following Jesus, the Christ as well as the meaning of life and death through their selflessness and self-giving for the sake of others. “He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it’” (Mk. 8: 34-35). He let the disciples and the crowd to decide for themselves. He did not force them to follow him; rather they are free to follow him because they believed in him.  This is his command, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”  We who would like to come after him, we must deny, reject, refute and rebuff ourselves; we should disregard ourselves as important but rather lowly and humble servants.  We should carry our crosses of life and of living daily like our Master and Lord. And we should follow Jesus in Calvary where he is to be crucified.  That’s the way of being disciples and followers of Jesus Christ.  As what Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.”  As true disciples of Jesus who set as an example and model to us in serving us by his self-sacrifice and self-giving and self-denial, he died for us.  We too must offer ourselves to others; we must not keep hold of our lives but rather we must ready to die to ourselves so that others may live, for Christ and the Gospel, if we want to save our lives.