The week before last, Father Jay Smith and I were in the sacristy. He remarked that he would be preaching on the first half of a gospel passage, Peter’s recognition that Jesus was the Christ, last Sunday’s gospel, and that I would be preaching on the rest of the story today. Jay asked, “Why did they do that?” I replied, “So Roman Catholics could hear sermons on the papacy for two Sundays, not just one.” Today we hear Peter rebuked as Jesus had rebuked Satan when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. But Jesus doesn’t just say to Peter, “Begone, Satan!”[1] He says, “If any [one] would come after me, let him [or her] deny himself or [herself] and take up his [or her] cross and follow me.”[2]
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