Reflection: “Get behind me, Satan!”
The Gospel (Matthew 16:21-27)
Poor old Peter. He was doing so well. Last week, he got top marks from Jesus when he answered the “Who do you say that I am?” question. Today, he gets slapped down by Jesus for trying to talk him out of going to Jerusalem and probably getting himself killed.
However, it is not quite as bad as it seems. Jesus is not calling Peter the Devil, or evil. Satan here means an obstacle. Indeed, in Jewish, Satan was originally thought to be an angel of God who was sent to test people’s faith by placing obstacles in their path. Just look at the story of Job.
So, Peter is getting in the way of Jesus carrying out the Father’s will.
What is getting in our way?
We can ask ourselves, what is getting in our way? Is it fear, greed, laziness, arrogance, distraction, overwork, tiredness, people pleasing, indecision? Or is it something else? So much can come in the way of our doing the Father’s will.
The first reading tells us that God’s plan burns like a fire within us, and that we can exhaust ourselves trying to restrain that fire instead of going with it – instead of following our deepest desire, no matter how much it frightens us.
May we learn from Peter’s mistake, and not allow any obstacle to restrain the fire of God’s will within our hearts.
Fr Con O’Connell MSC
