From the Gospel acclamation: "Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (8:27-33, today's readings)

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.”

By their own profession of faith spoken by Peter, the disciples tell Jesus that he is Christ, the Son of Man. By asking them questions, Jesus hears their answers and takes their exchange a step further. He begins to teach them about his coming passion, death, and resurrection. Peter's image of Christ the Messiah is discordant with the truth of Jesus' mission, so he rebukes him. Jesus is perfectly obedient to the will of the Father, fulfilling his plan for our salvation. What Peter doesn't understand, he makes clear to him even as he turns his gaze to the disciples. That God has a plan for us in Jesus, there is no doubt, as we hear him say in the first reading, "For in the image of God has man been made."

God, help me see clearly where my plans end and yours begin. I pray to be free of unwieldy desires to control what I can't control and instead to let you take that from me. In your image, I am made free in order to freely choose to do your will. As Saint John Paul II said, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” Peter did not desire to see Jesus face his coming persecution and death, but he was powerless to impose his will on a plan Jesus freely chose to fulfill. Give me the grace, Lord, to recognize and name your divinity and think as you do but not as human beings do. Lead me, guide me, for the sake of your name.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.