Gospel: Mark 8:27-35
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said
in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in
reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about
him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be
rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and
rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and
began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does,
but as human beings do.”
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever
wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”
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Reflection:
A story is told about a man who was praying to have a personal encounter
with Jesus. He said to Jesus: “Please show yourself to me. I want to see you. I
want to follow you, and I want to have this deep friendship with you.”
Then in his dream Jesus replied by saying, “Would you be willing to
follow the path of my suffering and sacrifice?” With a forlorn face the man
replied negatively after which Jesus told him “So you will not be able to know
me deeply and you will not be able to have a personal friendship with me.”
Just like many of us Peter seems to be averse to suffering because he
reproached Jesus after Jesus told him that He must suffer, be rejected and then
eventually be killed (Mark 8:31). Why are we afraid to suffer by the way?
Is it because we love the self-indulgent lifestyle of this temporary
world? Which would we prefer the many temporal pleasures of this world or
deep friendship with Jesus? Deep friendship coursed through our many sufferings
which are actually very bearable for the simple reason that Jesus will surely
help us pull through it.
Many of us don’t have personal friendship with Jesus for the reason that
we love this world more than Jesus. We do not have personal closeness with
Jesus because we easily forsake Jesus in favor of the many temptations and
enjoyments of this world.
What would it benefit us if we gain this world yet we don not have Jesus
in our life? Nothing, its pure emptiness! Yes, we will find worldly happiness
and enjoyment. But it is fleeting it will not last long and it will eventually
lead us to sin. And then, emptiness and loneliness will set in. Let
us not allow ourselves to be deluded by the self-indulgent lifestyle of this
world because we will not gain anything from it.
It is only through our faithful discipleship with Jesus that we would be
able to find ourselves. It is only through the carrying of our own cross that
we would be able to develop a personal and lasting friendship with Jesus. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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