New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 17: Year A
Romans 12:9 to 21 and Matthew 16:21 to 28
“But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” (Matthew 16:23)
Who of us can really set aside our own yearnings, even to do the will of God, that is, if we even knew the will of God? Divine things are about the welfare and benefit of both creature and human community. Our Lord Jesus came among us to be the moral light. To model for us the way we can live harmoniously with one another. We first must rid ourselves of all sordid self-centeredness and look for the good of all of us.
Looking out for the good of all of us is the Divine thing to do. Anything short of community enhancement should be considered a stumbling block to us. At the end of the day, we need to each ask ourselves “how have I made my house, my neighborhood, my parish or the world a better place today?”
I sometimes stop and marvel at an ant colony. The individual ant is never concerned about the individual self – only the life and wellbeing of the colony. As fellow citizens and neighbors of the same planet, we too should be concerned about the livelihood of the whole human population and creation itself.
Our Lord Jesus has informed his followers that he is aware of what is going to happen to him but he is going to go through with it anyway. Peter wants to get Jesus to change his mind about following what God wants of him and pick a more personally glorified role of leadership. Jesus says no in a way that cast Peter in the role of the devil because it suggests that self glorification is better than saving our brothers and sisters from destruction. God in Christ Jesus wants as many as possible to have eternal life.
Who of us can really set aside our own yearnings, even to do the will of God, that is, if we even knew the will of God?
The will of God is to have believers to come and join God in eternal life. The Peters of today would have us believe that our individual and temporal lives are more important than our communal invitation to eternal life. But as Jesus explains, this is not the divine plan. God’s plan is “his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 