SEPTEMBER 16th 2012. TWENTY FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
Gospel: Mark 8:27-35
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
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The Gospel tells how Peter recognized that Jesus was the Christ, but did not agree that the Christ should suffer. Jesus responds by telling Peter in no uncertain terms that it is he (Peter) who must follow Christ, and not Christ who must follow Peter. Don Fabio asks us to apply this message to our own lives. Whatever our vocation in life, we are asked to follow Jesus, and this inevitably involves the Cross. Real living involves sacrificial love, fidelity, commitment, trust in God's providence. It is the spirit of evil who whispers that life should be comfortable, easy, involving no commitment or sacrifice. To this spirit Jesus commands "Get behind me Satan!" and demands that we follow him, instead of vice-versa.

Peter's profession of faith, and Jesus' reprimanding of Peter are inextricably linked
This week's Gospel recounts the entire story of the profession of faith by Peter in Jesus. But we don't just read the glorious part where Peter professes his belief that Jesus is the Christ: we also hear of how Peter tries to reproach the Lord, and Jesus responds with the words "Get behind me Satan! You are not reasoning according to God's way but according to human ways." These two moments are inextricably connected to each other, and on Sunday we get to read the passage in its entirety.
Jesus has reached the most northerly point of his ministry, Caesarea Philippi, the furthest place from Jerusalem that his journey take him. He puts the disciples to the test, asking what other people say about him, and then asking what they themselves think about him. This is a fundamental episode in Mark's Gospel and constitutes the structural centre of the Gospel. The entire first half of Mark's Gospel is a lead-up to the moment of this profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ. After this profession of faith, the entire Gospel is oriented towards the Cross. It becomes directed towards exploring the fact that Jesus is not just the Messiah, but is the Son of God, and demonstrating that he is not just the fulfilment of the promises of the past, but is something completely new and unexpected.

Peter has understood that Jesus is the Christ, but he has failed to understand what being Christ entails
Peter has understood that Jesus is the Christ. He is not the first in Mark's Gospel to recognize that fact. Earlier in the Gospel, Jesus had to silence the demons who were aware of the same fact. There is a continual temptation to take possession of the profession of faith in Jesus and to use it to inappropriate ends. We sometimes think that the fundamental strategy of evil is to deny the existence of God. But this is not exactly right. In the Gospel passage Jesus is telling the disciples that they have indeed understood that he is the Christ, but they have not grasped what being Christ entails. Peter has utterly failed to comprehend the nature of Jesus' mission and takes the Lord aside to scold him. This is a dramatic development! Peter considers Jesus to have taken a wrong direction and is not in agreement with him as to how his mission should unfold.

Jesus wants to take the focus off the glorious aspect of being Christ and emphasize the sacrificial aspect
Jesus turns to his disciples and reproves Peter. It is interesting to note that Jesus looks at his disciples while he is correcting Peter, and this indicates that all of them are wrong in their thinking and need correction. It is also interesting to note that Jesus often asks people to keep secret their profession of him as the Christ, but he makes no secret of the fact that being Christ entails that he is destined to suffer. Jesus does not want a one-sided emphasis on the victorious, glorious side of his mission, and on the fact that he is the Messiah. He wishes, rather, to emphasize that victory is something that comes about through defeat and suffering. Victory is not something that is wrought by an easy and comfortable road, but by a process that is more enigmatic.
Peter tries to tell Jesus in secret that he is making a mistake, but Jesus wishes to state publicly that it is Peter who is making the mistake, and he says, "Get behind me Satan!" Peter wants Jesus to follow his way of doing things, but Jesus responds by saying that it is Peter who must do the following. When Jesus originally called Peter, he used the exact same words, "Follow me!" and now he finds that he must repeat it again. This thought alone would be enough to reflect on for this Sunday! It is we who must follow God, and it not God who must follow us! If it is me who is choosing the road then I am no longer with Christ and I am no longer on the road to salvation. I am on the road to nowhere, following vain things that are of no use. To have life in all of its fullness - the life of the Resurrection - I must follow Christ.

Evil tries to convince us that salvation is possible without the Cross
Jesus addresses his rebuke to Satan - "Get behind me Satan!" What is it exactly that the powers of evil are trying to achieve here? Evil says that we can be saved without the cross. It says that salvation is something easy and comfortable. It says that the fullness of life can be achieved with the affirmation of our egos, by following ourselves rather than Christ. All of this is to think according to human ways and not according to God's ways. It is frightening to reflect on the fact that human beings can think according to Satan's influence, but that is how things are. This passage emphasizes the beautiful fact that people can also think according to God.
Here we have a confrontation between true salvation and something that is only an impostor. True salvation is not easy; it is not something that can be had at a discounted rate; it is not something that you pay for two and get three in return. Matrimony is never like that, the consecrated life is never like that, true friendship or raising a family are never like that, These are not things that are low risk and zero commitment, but involve salvation and love.

The way of God is distinguished from the way of Satan by the Cross
What distinguishes the way of God from the way of Satan is the Cross. Just one minute earlier Peter had recognized Jesus as the Christ, and now he tries to ruin his mission. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus had silenced the demons right up to this moment because they had done the exact same thing as Peter, trying to take Christ's mission as Messiah and fill it with the spirit of disobedience, egoism, and preoccupation with one's own wellbeing. Our interior life is a constant battle that must involve discipline of our thoughts, so that we think according to God's way and not according to human ways. It is our relationship with the Cross that draws the line between God's way of thinking and our way of thinking. We must journey towards that over which we have no dominion, recognizing the paternity and providence of God.
The text ends by saying that whoever loses his life for the sake of the Gospel will save it. To have life according to the Gospel is to radically trust in God, focussing on Jesus crucified on the Cross, and being aware that real living is not a stroll in the park.