Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (2022-2023)

I found a very interesting saying on the internet. Something that would actually make a great title for today’s Homily.

Real friends tell you the ugly truth, not pretty lies. Respect those who tell you the truth no matter how hard it is.

We say that Jesus is our friend, right? And He truly loves us, right?

So there is nothing more sure than that He will tell us the truth about ourselves.

Look, those who selfishly use other people instead of seeking their authentic good rarely tell them hard truths.

It's too risky.

I know parents who are afraid to discipline their child. They defend themselves by saying that it is LOVE.

But truly, it is the fear of taking the risk.

This great conversation with St. Peter in today’s Gospel reveals the true meaning of friendship, the true meaning of LOVE.

When Jesus elevated Peter to a position of prominence in the coming Kingdom - He called him the ROCK last WEEK.

But today Jesus is shocking with this announcement about himself, that he is going to suffer greatly and be killed - He predicts his passion.

And Peter, perhaps puffed up with naïve self-importance, takes the Lord aside and disagrees with him.

That's when Christ comes down hard on him.

Truly very hard, calling him "Satan" and telling him that he is thinking like a pagan, not like a Christian.

Only a true friend can say the hurtful words in order to bring the healing.

Of course, what Jesus applied to Peter is shocking, but it was more understandable for Peter than we do today.

If Peter knew his Hebrew scriptures, he would have known that he was not the first person to be referred to as Satan.

In fact, he was in pretty good company. Any idea who was that?

So the first person called a satan in the Old Testament is David. Yes, that king David.

In his early days, David even joined forces with Philistines to overthrow Saul, who was then the king of Israel. The Book of Samuel records the Philistines questioning whether to allow David to join them, because in time he might become a satan - in Hebrew, an “adversary.”

A number of other passages in the Old Testament use the term satan to mean an adversary, someone who is a rival or opponent.

Later on, the term Satan is “identified in a more impersonal way with the evil inclination which infects humanity.”

So Jesus’ statement can be looked at in a different light.

He was not saying Peter was Satan, in the sense of a celestial figure rivaling God in a contest between good and evil. Jesus was not saying that Peter was possessed by Satan and He needs to see the Exorcist.

No, rather Jesus meant that Peter was an adversary to Him and was giving in to a very human inclination to avoid pain and suffering at all costs.

“You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Matt 16:23)

I love history, and recently I started watching the TV show - Vikings.

In one of the episodes, the Vikings raid a Christian monastery.

They enter the chapel with golden crosses and treasures, questioning why these items are not protected.

Among the Vikings, Ragnar responds, 'Perhaps they believe their God protects them.'

Then, someone points to the cross and says, 'If this is their God, then he's dead. Nailed to a cross, he cannot protect anyone. He lacks life, unlike Odin, Thor, or Frey.’

“You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Matt 16:23)

These Vikings and it seems Saint Peter were not familiar with what is the center, the heart of Christianity, of what we believe, and what we experience each time coming here for the Mass.

What is it?

The Paschal Mystery!

The paschal mystery is about crossing over from death to life.

The followers of Christ came to see his life, death, and resurrection as Pascha, or Passover, a term associated with the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Jesus is the one who passed over from death to life, the Lamb whose blood was shed to liberate humankind from slavery to sin.

In truth, there is a paschal mystery in each of our lives and in every creature living on earth.

And we cannot avoid it.

The Paschal Mystery is basically the process of dying and rising, death and new life.

We see this all around us and in our own lives.

For example, we experience the process of dying and rising each year as we go through the different seasons. Maybe not here in the Sunny State.

Summer is a time of vibrancy and life, which then gives way to fall, when leaves on the trees die and fall away, and many plants seem to die. Winter comes, and with it, the frost and chill that seem to halt all growth and life. But after winter, when it seemed as if everything had died away, spring arrives.

The paschal mystery cannot be eliminated from our life, it cannot be avoided.

It is present in every life.

The difference for believing Christians is this: By our faith in Jesus Christ, by our love for him, we come to see that our own paschal mystery is somehow a part of the paschal mystery of Christ.

If we were to try to avoid it, we could be called Satan, because that is the way to real life.

Today the Lord, who is our best buddy, comes with his words, not to break us but to bring hope and a deeper understanding of the meaning of our life.