Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 17, 2022
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.”
I think I would have made a great apostle. I like long walks. A diet of fish, whole grains, and a little wine suits me nicely. Most of all, in trying to follow Jesus, I have an impressive and endless capacity for failure.
Of course, I don’t really think I belong among the great saints, but their mistakes—like Peter’s in today’s gospel—give a sinner like me hope.
Jesus’s rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!” is frightening, especially coming so quickly after Peter recognized Jesus as the Christ. Why the rebuke? In the following passage, Jesus explains the high cost of discipleship. Peter, as will later be seen, was objecting less to Jesus’ predicted suffering than to his own.
This is hardly the only time Peter lets Jesus down. He walks on water but doubts and sinks. He prays with Jesus in the garden but falls asleep. And at the crucial moment of arrest and trial, Peter denies Jesus three times.
These failures give me hope because there are so many of them. Perfection is not a prerequisite to discipleship.
Jesus rebukes Peter, but he does not reject him. Days after calling him Satan, Jesus brings Peter up the mountain to behold his transfiguration. After the cock crows, Peter repents and becomes our first pope.
Jesus picked flawed people to build his church. No less than their faith, their flaws are a lesson for us. The church is still made of imperfect people. Yet no selfishness, no hypocrisy, no petty politicking or terrible scandal is beyond Jesus’ power to redeem. We cannot accept these failures—Jesus’ rebuke still rings as a call to change for us today—but with God’s mercy, we can overcome them.
We can choose, like Peter, to keep walking with Jesus.
Prayer
Jesus our Teacher, you challenged your disciples to know you more intimately, and so come to recognize you as the Christ. Help us never to be content with our knowledge of you, but always to desire to know and love you more. Bring our hearts to rejoice in Peter’s confession that “You are the Christ” – our salvation and the fulfillment of our lives. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Alexis Falconieri was a wealthy noble in one of Italy’s most wealthy and cultured cities, yet he left that life behind him when Mary visited him and asked him to dedicate his life to God. The spirituality he helped forge continues to shape the world, and even reaches to Notre Dame.
He was born in Florence in 1200, the son of a wealthy merchant. Even as a child, he was known for his piety and humility.
As a young man, he joined an organization dedicated to honoring the Blessed Virgin, and in 1233, he and six other men from this group received a vision of Mary. She asked these seven young nobles to dedicate their lives to God, and they did, founding a religious order. They took up a common life together, and were later again visited by Mary, who held a black habit and told them, "I have chosen you to be my first Servants, and under this name you are to till my Son's vineyard. Here, too, is the habit which you are to wear; its dark color will recall the pangs which I suffered on the day when I stood by the cross of my only Son.”
They named the community the Order of the Servants of Mary, now known as the Servites. The order spread, especially through Germany and France, and within a few years, some 10,000 had joined their community.
The Servites were the first to promote a special devotion to Mary under the title, Our Lady of Sorrows. This devotion had a great impact upon Blessed Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross—he placed the Congregation under her patronage. The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, Sept. 15, remains an important day in the lives of the priests, brothers, and sisters of Holy Cross.
After receiving his vision of Mary, St. Alexis left all he had, took on a vow of poverty, and depended upon others for his food and shelter. Just months earlier, he had been seen as one of the most prominent nobles of Florence, and now he was wandering the region begging alms for the support of the Servite community.
His humility remained a defining characteristic—he thought himself unworthy to seek ordination to the priesthood. Alexis lived for 110 years, and his image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.
St. Alexis Falconieri, who left a life as a prominent noble to become a humble servant of Mary—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Alexis Falconieri is in the public domain. Modified from the original. Last accessed January 23, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
