In the gospel today Jesus took a bit of a disarming walk with his disciples. I say disarming walk, mindful of a particular vocation director, who use to take candidates for walks around campus, all the while asking them different questions. He was often surprised by some of their answers, which is what happens when you allow people to be honest.
In the gospel, on this particular walk with some of His disciples, Jesus asks them "who do people say I am?"
Peter speaks up and says, "You are the Christ."
It was then that Jesus began teaching his disciples that the Son of man must suffer greatly, be rejected by religious authorities, and put to death.
These were painful words, and Peter was taken aback by them, and consequently sharing his opinions, most likely thinking, "How can this be right? Why would God make Jesus suffer?"
What really provoked Peter’s response to Jesus? And why did Jesus rebuke him?
What we do know is what Jesus said to Peter: "Peter you are not thinking as God does but as humans do."
Let us all remind ourselves that God knows what is best in our lives, and go to Him and ask Him to show us the way.
