“‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.’” (Mark 8:27-35).
Oh my gosh, how much Saint Simon Peter loved Christ…
Saint Simon Peter used to annoy me so much. There are so many times in the Gospel that we hear about Saint Simon Peter getting things wrong. There are so many instances of Saint Simon Peter doing the wrong thing or reacting in the wrong way.
When he witnessed the Transfiguration, Saint Simon Peter wanted to set up thrones and tents on the mountain so that Christ could remain in His configured state. When Christ foretold His death and the manner of it, Saint Simon Peter simply told him it would not be allowed.im it would benot On the night before Christ died, Saint Simon Peter told Christ that he would follow Him into death rather than leave Him to die. And afterwards, when Christ ascended into Heaven, Saint Simon Peter needed to be called to return to Rome to face his own death, when he attempted to flee from it.
And yet – even so – Saint Simon Peter was given the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. And I have been reflecting on this. You see, Saint Simon Peter was exuberant in his love of Christ. He was like a toddler, slamming into his father when his father comes home from work, but knocking against his father clumsily and bruising his dad a little bit by all the clumsiness that he exhibits.
After all, it was Saint Simon Peter who first recognised and acknowledged Christ as THE CHRIST… And that means he literally looked his good friend and teacher in the eye and said – out loud – YOU ARE GOD. Justb imagine that for a moment. The courage it would take to say such a thing. I wonder if I would have had the courage to say that out loud to God if I saw Him in His human flesh? I mean, Saint Simon Peter saw Christ sweat and get tired and be hungry. He saw Christ frail at the end of a long day. And still – even when everyone else was looking at their shoes and too afraid to speak up, Saint Simon Peter looked at God in the eye and said, YOU ARE THE CHRIST.
And then, what seemed like a second later, he stumbled in his exuberance again, and tried to stop the crucifixion – the whole reason Christ was made incarnate of the Virgin…
“Jesus began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things… and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.’” (Mark 8:27-35).
And Saint Simone Peter learned that day that to follow Christ would hurt…
Related to the Emperor Frederick II, Theodora de Theate came from a wealthy family and was unable to accept her son’s decision to join the Friars of Saint Dominic. Instead she tried to use her influence to make him the Abbot of Monte Cassino. But he refused. For the way Christ is hard. She tried kidnapping him and confining him, but her son refused to be persuaded. He became a Dominican. And we know him today as Saint Thomas Aquinas – one of the greatest minds in history.
For the way of the Cross is hard and filled with fumbles of love…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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