Homily - 16 September 2006

Based on the General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, 17 May 2006
Words of the Holy Father in Italics

We have much to learn from the example of the life of Saint Peter, for he is man very much like us. He has a determined and impulsive character: he is ready to assert his own opinions even with force (remember him using the sword in the Garden of Olives: cf. John 18:10ff). At the same time he is also ingenuous and fearful, yet he is honest, to the point of the most sincere repentance (cf. Matthew 26:75).

After the miraculous catch of fish, Peter accepted the invitation of Jesus to trust and to be open to a project that would surpass all his expectations. "Do not be afraid; henceforth, you will be catching men" (Luke 5: 10). He accepted this surprising call, he let himself be involved in this great adventure: he was generous; he recognized his limits but believed in the one who was calling him and followed the dream of his heart. He said "yes", a courageous and generous "yes", and became a disciple of Jesus. He said, “yes” to Jesus because in him he saw the fulfillment of his deepest desires and dreams.

It is a rather strange question that Jesus asks: “Who do men say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). Why ask such a question at all? He surely has heard the rumors among the people, that he intrigues even Herod. For Jesus, hearsay did not suffice. From those who follow him and are in relationship with him, Jesus insists that we personally say who he is for us, that we recognize the relationship we have with him.

He asks us directly and pointedly, “But who do you say that I am?” The answer to this question undoubtedly reflects our relationship and our intimacy with the Lord. Some may indeed see him as “one of the prophets” (Mark 8:28); some as a miracle-worker or great teacher; some as a glutton and a drunkard. However, he calls each of us, with Peter, to recognize him for who he truly is: the Messiah of God.

“You are the Christ,” Peter said (Mark 8:29). However, Peter had not yet understood the profound content of Jesus’ Messianic mission, the new meaning of this word: Messiah. He thought he knew who this Jesus was and his mission, but Peter was mistaken, seeing instead his own vision for Jesus.

He demonstrates this a little later, inferring that the Messiah whom he is following in his dreams is very different from God’s true plan; he follows, at first, a savior of his own design. He was shocked by the Lord’s announcement of the Passion and protested, prompting a lively reaction from Jesus (cf. Mark 8:32-33). Do we not do the same?

Peter wanted as Messiah a “divine man” who would fulfill the expectations of the people by imposing his power upon them all: we would also like the Lord to impose his power and transform the world instantly. Jesus presented himself as a “human God,” the Servant of God, who turned the crowd’s expectations upside-down by taking a path of humility and suffering. He came among us as the Suffering Servant.

This is what Jesus said to the Apostles when “he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected … and be killed and rise after three days” (Mark 8:31). This mission Peter simply could not tolerate. And yet, this is the great alternative that we must learn over and over again: to give priority to our own expectations, rejecting Jesus, or to accept Jesus in the truth of his mission and set aside all too human expectations. Can you, can I, accept the totality of Jesus and his mission? Or are we like Peter, telling the Lord how to do his work?

Peter, impulsive as he was, did not hesitate to take Jesus aside and rebuke him. Jesus’ answer demolished all his false expectations, calling him to conversion and to follow him: “Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Mark 8:33). It is not for you to show me the way; I take my own way and you should follow me.

Peter thus learned what following Jesus truly means. “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” (Mark 8:34-35). Peter learned here and now to follow the Lord, even when he thought he knew better; the Lord has his own ways of doing things and he knows what he is doing. This is the demanding rule of the following of Christ: one must be able if necessary, to give up the whole world to save the true values, to save the soul, to save the presence of God in the world (cf. Mark 8:36-37). And though with difficulty, Peter accepted the invitation and continued his life in the Master’s footsteps. The Lord offers the invitation to us, also: “Who do you say that I am? Come, follow me!”

Like Peter, we too have a desire for God, we too want to be generous, but we too expect God to be strong in the world and to transform the world on the spot, according to our ideas and the needs that we perceive.

God chooses a different way. God chooses the way of transformation of hearts in suffering and in humility. And we, like Peter, must convert, over and over again. We must follow Jesus and not go before him: it is he who shows us the way.

So it is that Peter tells us: You think you have the recipe and that it is up to you to transform Christianity or the world, but it is the Lord who knows the way. It is the Lord who says to me, who says to you: follow me! And we must have the courage and humility to follow Jesus, because he is the Way, the Truth and the Life, because he is the Christ.