“Jesus began to show his disciples

that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly

from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised. 

Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,

‘God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.’

He turned and said to Peter,

‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. 

You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.’”

In 2021, Pope Francis traveled to Budapest for the closing Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress at which he gave an extended reflection on today’s Gospel reading. He begins with the question from last week’s Gospel, “Who do you say that I am?” In response, for the disciples and for us, Pope Francis notes, “They had to take that decisive step, from admiring Jesus to imitating Jesus. Today too, the Lord looks at each of us personally and asks: ‘Who am I – in fact – for you?’… This question…calls for more than a quick answer straight out of the catechism; it requires a vital, personal response.” Peter’s response is, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Yet, that response develops through three steps, according to the Pope. 

The first is proclaiming Jesus. Peter’s proclamation of the Christ, the son of the living God, is met by Jesus’s admonition to silence, not to tell anyone about it. Pope Francis notes that proclaiming the messiah can too easily be construed in human expectations, not God’s ways. In fact, Jesus, as we hear today, begins to teach about the coming suffering, death, and resurrection of the Son of Man. He speaks openly about the cross. Peter’s rebuke of Jesus for this teaching reflects a human way of thinking. The Pope notes, “We too would prefer a powerful Messiah rather than a crucified servant. The Eucharist is here to remind us who God is. It does not do so just in words, but in a concrete way, showing us God as bread broken, as love crucified and bestowed. We can add ritual elements, but the Lord is always there in the simplicity of Bread ready to be broken, distributed and eaten. He is there: to save us, Christ became a servant; to give us life, he accepted death.”

The second step is discerning with Jesus. Faced with the specter of the cross, we often need to struggle with thinking as God does versus as humans do. The Pope again notes, “On the one hand, we have God’s way of thinking, which is that of humble love. A way of thinking that shuns imposition, ostentation and every form of triumphalism, and always aims at the good of others, even to the point of self-sacrifice. On the other hand, we have our human way of thinking: this is the wisdom of the world…attached to honour and privileges, and grasping for prestige and success. Here the things that count are self-importance and power, whatever attracts the most attention and respect in the eyes of others.” He continues, “Let us allow Jesus the Living Bread to heal us of our self-absorption, open our hearts to self-giving, liberate us from our rigidity and self-concern, free us from the paralyzing slavery of defending our image, and inspire us to follow him wherever he would lead us, not where I want.” 

The third step is walking behind Jesus. Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! ” The Pope notes, “With this stern command, Jesus brings Peter back to himself…Peter thus receives the grace to step back and once more get behind Jesus. The Christian journey…begins by stepping back…—finding freedom by not needing to be at the centre of everything. Peter realizes that the centre is not his Jesus, but the real Jesus. He will keep falling, but in passing from forgiveness to forgiveness, he will come to see more clearly the face of God. And he will pass from an empty admiration for Christ to an authentic imitation of Christ.” May we all get behind Jesus!