In our Gospel reading today we have the great confession of the Apostle S. Peter, at Caesarea Philippi, far, far north of Judah and Jerusalem, near what they call today the Golan Heights. Far beyond Galilee even, and the tranquility of the fishing villages. And so, far away from all things, Christ asks His men what they think of Him, and their captain replies with those eternal words: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Peter receives, as the Gospel of Matthew tells us, the keys of the kingdom. But to what end? The Lord goes on to tell them.
“…He said to them, ‘And what of you? Who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered Him, ‘Thou art the Christ.’ And He strictly charged them not to tell anyone about Him. And now He began to make it known to them that the Son of Man must be much ill-used, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put to death, and rise again after three days. This He told them openly; whereupon Peter, drawing Him to his side, fell to reproaching Him. But He turned about, and, seeing His disciples there, rebuked Peter; ‘Back, Satan,’ He said, ‘these thoughts of thine are man’s, not God’s.’ And He called His disciples to Him, and the multitude with them, and said to them, ‘If any man has a mind to come My way, let him renounce self, and take up his cross, and follow Me. The man who tries to save his life will lose it; it is the man who loses his life for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, that will save it.'”
Gospel of S. Mark, 8: 29-35 [link]
So, things are coming to a head, and He is preparing for His last pilgrimage to Jerusalem. And that will end with the leadership of the community passing from Him to Peter and the Apostles, but Peter would still be the first of the Apostles and given a primacy over them. The story of the episcopal leadership of the Church in the Twelve begins here. Hence, Christ describes the inevitability of His departure through suffering and torment, and eventual death. In the first reading, we see the prophet Isaiah’s poetic vision of the suffering of the Just Man, Whom every Christian recognises as Christ: the insults, mockery, beatings, and the His almighty patience through it all.
“An attentive ear the Lord has given me; not mine to withstand him; not mine to shrink from the task. I offered my body defenceless to the men who would smite me, my cheeks to all who plucked at my beard; I did not turn away my face when they reviled me and spat upon me. The Lord God is my helper; and that help cannot play me false; meet them I will, and with a face unmoved as flint; not mine to suffer the shame of defeat; here is One stands by to see right done me. Come, who pleads? Meet me, and try the issue; let him come forward who will, and accuse me. Here is the Lord God ready to aid me; who dares pass sentence on me now?”
Prophecy of Isaias, 50: 5-9 [link]
Although Christ will rise in three days, the Church needs a leader to take His place. But S. Peter is not ready; no, he says, surely they cannot do this evil thing to You, You Whom I see as my Lord and God. The Gospel says that Christ then rebuked Peter, and said, Get behind me, Satan, etc… Very strong words, to forestall impetuous Peter, and to draw him back to the divine plan. No, Peter, the Lord must complete His work, He must be so sacrificed and return humanity to the bosom of God the Father, and Peter must become His regent on earth. The way men think of the reading is the glorification of the Messiah, the way God thinks is the restoration of mankind through the sacrifice of the Messiah.
And He further elaborates with a new instruction to the Church: anybody who wishes to be a Christian must follow Him down the path of martyrdom. He doesn’t mean obviously that we should all be running up to Jerusalem to be crucified, but He does mean that we should be avoiding glory in this world and preparing to give away everything for His sake and for the sake of the gospel. What does that mean on a practical level? Why, that we shouldn’t set our hearts on earthly glory, which has always meant wealth, and power, and perhaps celebrity. That, in the words of the gospel, is building treasures up in this world, in the land of sin and death. The Lord wants us to build up treasures in heaven, in the land of the living, through lives of virtue.
What are the principal virtues that allow us so to focus beyond this world, and upon the life to come? S. Paul names them for us in his letters: faith, hope and charity. Faith is paramount, but as S. James tells us in our second reading, faith and charity are intertwined. You cannot claim to have faith and not do a single good act, he says. If one of our community is in need and we say, Good day, be well, keep warm, eat well, when we know that they cannot do so for lack or want, then we have failed in our charity. No, we must help… Our faith is made visible in the way we live, and actions always speak louder than words.
“Of what use is it, my brethren, if a man claims to have faith, and has no deeds to shew for it? Can faith save him then? Here is a brother, here is a sister, going naked, left without the means to secure their daily food; if one of you says to them, Go in peace, warm yourselves and take your fill, without providing for their bodily needs, of what use is it? Thus faith, if it has no deeds to shew for itself, has lost its own principle of life. We shall be inclined to say to him, Thou hast faith, but I have deeds to shew. Shew me this faith of thine without any deeds to prove it, and I am prepared, by my deeds, to prove my own faith.”
Letter of S. James, 2: 14-18 [link]
One of the things I notice a great deal about our great once-Christian country, is the increasing disrespect for human life. I know that I have for some weeks mentioned so-called ‘assisted dying’ and abortion, in the context of the recent successful March for Life. But, aside from those, the old scourge of communism is returning, and human life becomes cheapened as it is distanced further from God. As things begin to worsen, the Church must become a shining light of the charity of Christ, as she once was, on the watch of bishops like the S. James of our second reading.
And because the Church is not just priests and bishops, but all of us together, we shall have to defend human life in its every aspect together, we shall build our heavenly treasure together, suffer together, and find eternal life together.
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 