Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus is a true friend to us. He is a friend that loves us enough to tell us the truth. Last week and now this week in our gospel, we see the character Peter. Last week, Jesus gave him The Keys and told him that he is the rock. Quite a big honor Jesus bestows on his friend Peter. In today’s gospel Jesus tells a truth to his disciples he loves. It’s a sad truth. It’s a horrific truth. That he will suffer greatly, and that he will be killed. Peter counters back to Jesus, No Lord, no, that won’t happen to you, you are the son of God, that won’t happen. Jesus comes down on Peter hard. He called him Satan! Basically, Jesus is calling Peter a big fool! Jesus is telling Peter that he has brains like those scribes and Pharisees who don’t believe. He’s telling Peter that he needs to start thinking, differently, like a Christian.
Now that’s an honest truth. Jesus is a true friend here to Peter, he didn’t worry about offending Peter, he didn’t care about Peter possibly rejecting him after calling him Satan, Jesus told Peter the truth, and Peter had to hear it. That’s really the theme today, getting the honest truth from a friend.
The Prophet Jeremiah’s life’s work was to warn the Israelites to repent, make things right, and return to their faith. And if they wouldn’t do that, they were going to pay the price. Jeremiah was being a really good friend, and telling them a hard truth. They didn’t want to hear it, and the people spread lies about Jeremiah, they beat him up, they imprisoned him. But Jeremiah continued to tell that hard truth. Jeremiah is a preview of what Jesus had to do, tell us a hard truth.
Today is about someone who loves us, loves us enough that he will tell us what we need to hear, so that we may be saved. That is the kind of friend Jesus is for us.
The question that we should ponder today is this, what kind of friend are we being to Jesus? Is he doing all the work? Brothers and sisters, it can’t be a one-way relationship. Jesus is honest, truthful, and loving to us. Are we the same to him?
Reflection by Fr. Macario Martinez, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections