Sun Mass readings (Rebellion against hate / faith alone doesn't save / Jesus says you must deny yourself)

[distracted]

September 13, 2009

Reading 1
Is 50:5-9a

The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear;
***and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting. ***

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let that man confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

R. (9)I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
Alleluia.
I love the LORD because he has heard
my voice in supplication,
Because he has inclined his ear to me
the day I called.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
Alleluia.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
I fell into distress and sorrow,
And I called upon the name of the LORD,
“O LORD, save my life!”
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
Alleluia.
Gracious is the LORD and just;
yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
I was brought low, and he saved me.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
Alleluia.
For he has freed my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or: Alleluia.

**Reading II
Jas 2:14-18 **

***What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him? ***
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, ”
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed someone might say,
“You have faith and I have works.”
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

Gospel
Mk 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.”

*1st:

It is prophesied that the coming Messiah will not resist when he is persecuted and hated and eventually crucified.

We humans resist being tormented and in a way that’s not bad because it is right to hate evil. But sometimes we hate the evil that is done to us far more than the worse evil that is done to others (abortion ). We pity ourselves when really our lives are a virtual paradise compared to the lives of, say, starving children … We are so spoiled by prosperity… its pathetic…

Faith by itself cannot save you. We must do the things Jesus said to do… feed the hungry, help the oppressed… In so doing we are caring for Jesus (St Mt 25:31)

2nd:

Peter is rebuked by Jesus even though Jesus knows that what he says he says out of love for Him… Jesus is probably angry because Peter is thinking like a human and not the way God thinks… something we ALL do…

so I guess Jesus is angry with all of us weak, sinful, this-wordly thinking humanoids…

But angry or not, He always loves… :hug1:

Personally, i believe it is God the Father who is angry with us over sin… I don’t believe Jesus ever gets very angry with us… well, at least not with those who are TRYING… but i don’t know if the Church would approve of that particular thought… just my subjective “ponderings”… *

 

[Beachcomber]

Yes, I agree with you. I don’t think Jesus gets angry with those who are trying. He would certainly understand the difficulty of just being human (‘He was like us in all things but sin.’) I also think that is why it is easy to come to Him and approach Him in prayer. He does not like the sin but He loves the sinner. That’s hard for us to do, distinguish between the two, but He’s God and He knows ‘backstory’ of every person. Another reason to trust Him.

With regard to the faith and works issue–it just seems self-evident that one’s faith would lead to works. The works put the ‘feet’ to the faith, as it were. And looking at the life of Christ, we see Him do works of mercy for those who followed Him. He fed them, healed them, spent time with them–we need to emulate that, however best we can. I believe the Lord is pleased with our works because now that Jesus is not here on earth in a physical sense, we can be His hands and do what He would want done.

 

[cheeto1]

“Get behind Me Satan!”
– I didn’t really think Jesus was angry. I thought He was afraid. I thought that what
Peter was saying made a lot of sense to Him and He knew if He could stay alive
and with the people that He could do a lot of good, and why should that good end?
Then I think when He saw the other disciples looking on, that’s what made Him
afraid. He remembered that this is what God wanted Him to do, whether or not
He agreed or it made sense to Him. He was afraid because Peter made sense,
and it would be easy for all the disciples to agree with him out of pure logic. At
this point, if He were to be very gentle with Peter, the other disciples would
probably end up saying the same thing as Peter, and one by one, taking Jesus
aside to reason with Him as Peter had done. Since it only makes sense, I
think Jesus was afraid that this reasoning would eventually wear Him down, to
the point that He would be like Abraham, using his own reason to decide what
God wants (slave-girl). After all, God wants us to do good to others, how can we
do that if we’re dead? In using this strong statement, He stopped the temptation
in it’s tracks. Now none of the disciples will dare to reason this way, or Jesus
might call them “Satan” too. Isn’t that the worst insult possible, and coming from
the Son of God! Then He was kind to explain, “you are thinking not as God but
as man”.

 

[cheeto1]

“who do people say that I am?”
– and all the answers were someone who had already died. Did they believe in
reincarnation? I know Elijah didn’t technically die, but I wonder why no one thought
that Jesus was someone new?

 

[Beachcomber]

“who do people say that I am?”
– and all the answers were someone who had already died. Did they believe in
reincarnation? I know Elijah didn’t technically die, but I wonder why no one thought
that Jesus was someone new?

I read somewhere that during Jesus’ lifetime, there were many prophets and other sorts who came along with a message of deliverance, hope in a messiah, political revolution against Rome. I think that at the time, people didn’t see Jesus as any different from them. It was only after His death that it became clear He was Messiah.

 

[distracted]

Yes, I agree with you. I don’t think Jesus gets angry with those who are trying. He would certainly understand the difficulty of just being human (‘He was like us in all things but sin.’) I also think that is why it is easy to come to Him and approach Him in prayer. He does not like the sin but He loves the sinner. That’s hard for us to do, distinguish between the two, but He’s God and He knows ‘backstory’ of every person. Another reason to trust Him.

With regard to the faith and works issue–it just seems self-evident that one’s faith would lead to works. The works put the ‘feet’ to the faith, as it were. And looking at the life of Christ, we see Him do works of mercy for those who followed Him. He fed them, healed them, spent time with them–we need to emulate that, however best we can. I believe the Lord is pleased with our works because now that Jesus is not here on earth in a physical sense, we can be His hands and do what He would want done.

well said…

the scariest scripture in the bible is the one where Jesus says that even those who cast out demons in his name may not make it to Heaven…

but i really believe what he meant was that you have to deal with your inner “stuff” as well as living in the world as a Christian… doing this or that (casting out demons) Some people just go to Church and that’s the extent of their intimacy with Christ… Jesus called such persons white-washed tombs… look good on the outside but INSIDE…

 

[distracted]

“Get behind Me Satan!”
– I didn’t really think Jesus was angry. I thought He was afraid. ".

I’m sure Jesus diddn’t relish the idea of being crucified… but i don’t think he was feeling fear in this particular moment… or at least not fear so bad that it prompted him to (appear to) call Peter Satan… .

i think the words are clear… that we are to think like God, not like humans… It is thinking as humans that caused Jesus to come to Earth to save us in the 1st place… We are too weak and pathetic to ever be capable of saving outselves…without divine intervention (Christ).
This truth is borne out in the fact that, as Jesus says, there are very few who find the narrow way to salvation (the narrow way is the Catholic religion, PRACTICED… and then there is a narrow way within that narrow way…)

in any case… i don’t believe Jesus is calling Peter Satan… he is rebuking satan speaking through Peter… as he speaks through all of us at times… works through all of us…