Mark 8, 27-Mark 9-1 (Peter’s
Confession)
1st
August Trinity
And
Jesus went on with his disciples into the region of Caesarea Philippi
(in the north of the land at the source of the
Jordan where the Roman Caesar was worshiped as a divine being). And on the way
there he asked the disciples (and said to them), “Who do people say that I am?”
They said to him, “Some say
that you are John the Baptist; others say Elijah, still others that you are one
of the prophets.”
Then
he asked them, “And you, who do you say that I am?’
Then
Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”
And Jesus warned them not to
tell anyone about him.
And he began to teach them: “The Son of Man must suffer much and will
be rejected by the leaders of the people, by the elders and the teachers of the
law, and he will be killed and after three days he will rise again.” Freely and
openly he told them this.
Then Peter took him aside and began to urge him not to let
this happen. He, however, turned around, looked at his disciples, and
reprimanded Peter, saying to him, “Withdraw from me; now the adversary is
speaking through you! Your thinking is not divine but merely human in nature.”
 |
| Luca Rossetti da Orta |
And
he said to them, “The truth I say to you, among those who are standing here there
are some who will not taste death before they behold the kingdom of God arising
in human beings, revealing itself in the power and magnificence of the spirit.”
1st
August Trinity
Mark
8:27 -9:1
Sometimes
we hear a sound of something we can’t quite make out. Our mind tries to
identify it based on things we have already heard. But if it is something we
have never heard before, we may either give up trying to comprehend, or we may
force the sound to fit into something we already know. A third option would be
to expand a space inwardly to make room for something new.
 |
| Daniel Bonnell |
In
this gospel reading, Jesus is perceived as the Christ, the One Anointed for a
special task. He tries to explain what being mankind’s highest leader will
mean; it will mean suffering and death, but also resurrection. In order to
journey with Him into the next phase of humanity’s evolution, His disciples
will have to give up their hopes and expectations of His earthly kingship. They
will need to free themselves from their preconceptions, for the old is at an
end.
At
the same time, they will need to bestir themselves, to pour their souls’
activity into following Him on this new path. They will need to change the way
they think. They will need to re-tune the instrument of their feeling so that
their actions fit this new path. For His path is one of selfless service, of
selfless selfhood. It finds its power through hearing the good news from the
realm of the angels. It is a path that heals and bridges the gulf between
heaven and earth, between life and death, between the old and the new.
Today
humanity is being called to perceive the new revelation of the Christ. We are
being asked to free ourselves from preconceptions based on what we think we
already know. We are being asked to hear His voice from the realm of the angels
in inner silence. We are being invited to give up our self-preoccupation and to
offer ourselves to His guidance. Walking with Christ, we walk through suffering
and pain into the healing of our fellow human beings, into the healing of the
earth.
