Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
As humans, we value security. We like to know what is ahead of us, and how to deal with whatever is coming. But God is not calling us to security: instead, he asks that we put our trust in him. God does things that we do not understand. We see this in the Gospel when Jesus tells his disciples not to tell anyone about him, which seems counterintuitive. Why keep the Messiah, the person for whom the world has been waiting for thousands of years, a secret? The second thing that doesn’t make sense is that Jesus has to suffer horrible things. Peter can’t believe what he is hearing. How could the perfect man, the Son of God, be turned over to such a fate? But Jesus replies harshly to Peter: “Get behind me Satan,” he tells Peter. “You are not thinking as God does, but as human beings do.” But even though it didn’t make sense at the time, eventually God’s plan played out, and humanity’s salvation became the result of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Sometimes, God allows certain challenges in our lives that make no sense at all. But despite this, we have to trust in God. It is important to remember that, as humans, we can be very narrow-minded and unable to see the big picture as God does. Therefore, this is all the more reason to entrust everything to Him, since he sees us in our wholeness and knows us better than we know ourselves.
Reflection by Eli, seminarian
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections