GET BEHIND ME SATAN!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

Matthew 16: 21 - 27
21	From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
22	And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you."
23	But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men."
24	Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
25	For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
26	For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?
27	For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

A BLESSED SUNDAY TO ALL!!!

People will recognize us as to who we are to them, either with praise or condemnation, not so much by what we say about ourselves nor by the claim we make about what we want to do or intend to accomplish but by what we have DONE and ACCOMPLISHED. As the saying goes, action speaks louder than words. Thus, we can also say, our hands reveal more eloquently who we are than what our mouth can articulate.

However, in the Gospel today, Jesus rebukes and condemns Peter by what he has SAID. Jesus is very angry and severe in his censure of Peter’s disapproval of what he intends to DO. Jesus even calls Peter Satan. This shows the strong contempt Jesus must have about what Peter has said to him. What I can make out of this denunciation of Jesus, calling Peter Satan, reveals the fact that Satan can use anybody just to hinder Jesus’ work for our salvation. Jesus’ disapproval made clear to Peter that what he said is “revealed” to him by Satan. Jesus was exorcising Satan to get behind him, and therefore to get behind Peter too. This clearly stands in contrast to the occasion that Peter made a confession about Jesus that draws praise and commendation from Jesus. We can recall how Peter, in one of the previous Gospel readings, made a profession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:15-19). In praise, Jesus told him that what he has said was made possible by the revelation of the Father in heaven to him. With such profession, Jesus addressed Peter as the “ROCK” upon which his church will be built on.

Satan is always at work to destroy what Jesus laid upon the Apostles and his Church. The Gospel today challenges us to be on guard not to become an instrument of Satan to sway anyone or the Church away from advancing the salvific and liberating work of Jesus. Jesus also describes the hindrance that Satan would make to obstruct and interfere with the advancement of the work of God for the fullness of our lives by pointing out the treachery and deceit Satan will make. Satan will always present something to appear beneficial for mankind, just as Peter was protesting against what Jesus intends to do, which is the work God the Father wants Jesus to do. Peter uses the name of God that what Jesus shows to them as to what will happen to him in Jerusalem will not come true. Peter said, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you." Peter must have cared Jesus very much that he was blinded to see something greater than what is “personally good” for Jesus but not “great” and “good”, therefore in opposition, to God. Used by Satan, Peter was claiming something from the side of men and not from God.

The Gospel then challenges us today to examine WHO RULES our lives. Let us then be careful that even how good our intention might be to be of service of our neighbor we can be working or doing something that will not be for God’s glory but for men only. Let us then be on the watch always and careful to assess what is being proposed to us in the guise of being good and beneficial to society but neglect and disregard the promotion of God’s norm. Let us not just take the easy road and avoid what seem to be hard, like Peter who doesn’t want the Lord Jesus to face his suffering and death in Jerusalem at the hands of the leaders- the elders, chief priest and scribes. Let us then be critical too about what our leaders will offer to us in the name of easing the hardships of our lives, but runs contrary to God’s will. Let us keep our Christian stand all the time: be on the side of God at all times! Let us have always the courage to say “GET BEHIND ME SATAN” so that what we will do will always be for the GLORY of GOD!


For your personal comments, you can reach me through this email: sanolorenz@yahoo.com