Today’s readings focus on the message that loving God, following Him and living according to His will is not easy. It will entail being open to face not only the good things of life but the sufferings that may come to us. But then the love of God within us will give us the strength to remain faithful in every situation.
In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah expressed what he had to face for the sake of his ministry: his suffering and anguish as a prophet. Yet he couldn’t resist serving God. He couldn’t run away from it. He expressed this relationship as divine seduction, which he freely accepted because He couldn’t keep God’s word only for himself.
In the second reading, St. Paul told us how we should respond to God’s love through offering ourselves in service of Him as a sacrifice. That involves offering our whole lives to God – our time, talents, decisions, relationships, work, and even our difficulties. Hence, we should not be conformed to the world but transformed by the desire to always do God’s will. That is the best response to divine love.
In the Gospel, Jesus exposed to His disciples what awaited Him in Jerusalem, his sacrifice for us: his suffering, death and resurrection. Peter couldn’t contain the idea that the Christ would suffer and tried to rebuke Jesus, but Jesus cautioned Peter, saying: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me….” He then asked His disciples to take their cross and follow Him if they want to be His true disciples.
The part of a Christian as that of a disciple should be that of openness to whatever challenges may come while living a Christlike life. To be a Christian is not all rosy. Peter had taught it was so, that there was no suffering but constant provision and satisfaction of their needs. So also, the prophet in the first reading. But there will always be times in our lives when the road seems bleak, full of perils, suffering and anxiety. Jesus wants us to learn from and keep on the path. “For the Love of God, let us never give up”. Let that be our response, like Jeremiah’s feeling of divine seduction. Nothing should separate us from the love of God.