No Wonder Catholics Are Such a Peckish Lot

St. Peter is our Model, Our First Leader

Today was one of those cool Gospel readings that makes me realize something about the Catholic Church that I appreciate. There's room for a jerk like me in it. How do I know that? Because Jesus appointed the first jerk, St. Peter to be the first head of the Church. Here's much of today's gospel reading from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops site. It is taken from Mark's Gospel Chapter 8 verses 27-35, and I have omitted the last 2 verses:

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.”

Peter in one breath raises his hand in class, like an anxious school kid who has to pee, going "Pick me, Pick me," and when Jesus calls on him, he is able to proclaim that Jesus is the Christ of God, the anointed, the Messiah.

But, then Peter proves that he is so much like the rest of us, smart one minute, and dumb as a post the next. After Jesus tells the disciples what it's going to be like in the next while, Peter gets his knickers in a knot, and pulls Jesus aside. He says something along the lines of: "Hey, look JC (He can call him JC now, since he figured out the "C" part), this is not cool. We got a shot of taking over the whole shebang here. None of this dying stuff. You gotta trust me on this. That would not be a good thing."

But, what does Jesus say to Peter? Woe, rebuke of rebukes. "Get behind me, Satan." How small do you think Peter felt right about then? "You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Isn't that the problem for us all? Ted Kennedy thought like man, not like God, thinking abortion "rights" whatever those are, would make the world a better place for who? It sure doesn't do it for the dead babies.

Jim Corcoran thinks that holding Bishop De Angelis and the "12" accountable is better for who? And to whom does he want them to be accountable? Certainly not to God. God doesn't have an HRC. He is His own GRC, and you only have to get on your knees to appeal to it, and wait and wait and maybe wait some more for the answer.

And those who stand by while these poltroons wreak their havoc on the Church, and say nothing or throw lavish funerals in their honour, or kiss their rosy red ???, because they don't want to offend them, we have room for them too. Why? Because Jesus came for sinners, like you and me, and every other you and me.

We are all sinaholics, in need of the Saviour's healing touch, and the best place to get it is in a faith community. In a faith community, the Word of God can heal the broken hearts, minds, souls and spirits. So, welcome one and all. Take a seat, the meeting's starting soon.