August 30, 2026

Readings: Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 (Response: “My soul is thirsting for you. O Lord my God.”); Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27

      There are many times that we are asked to make promises or take vows without knowing all that lies ahead of us. Those times are a reminder that we can only be true and faithful with the help of God, Father Son, and Holy Spirit. This is especially true when any of us responds to God’s call, to our life-long vocation. There is so much that lies ahead—joys and challenges—which we can not know. As a bride and groom respond to the questions asked of them during the Nuptial Rite/Mass, they certainly can’t foresee all that will be asked of them in their marriage. When a man is being ordained a deacon (transitional or permanent) or a priest, how can he possibly know all the challenges that lie ahead? I wonder whether Fr. John Keehner knew the full scope of the responsibility of being Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City as he was ordained bishop. I think he would tell us that he’s still learning—as we all are!
      I see this, too, in the Rite of Baptism, especially when baptizing the parents’ first born. The rite begins with greeting the parents and godparents at the door and asking the name of the child. Then the parents are asked, “What do you ask of God’s Church for N?” “Baptism” is the most obvious answer, though other baptism-related answers are allowed. Then comes the most serious question of the parents: “In asking for Baptism for your child, you are undertaking the responsibility of raising her/him in the faith, so that, keeping God’s commandments, s/he may love the Lord and her/his neighbor as Christ has taught us. Do you understand this responsibility?” At this point, the parents are to answer, “We do.” No doubt the parents, even first-time parents, are able, to some extent, to “understand this responsibility”? Whether it is the first child, or the second, third, fourth …. child baptized, however, it is not possible for parents to know all the particulars that will arise in raising their child(-ren) in the faith.
      To sum up/repeat: When any of us responds God’s call, to our life-long vocation, does any of us truly and fully “understand this responsibility”? When any of us face unforeseen challenges to the commitments we’ve made in faith, we might feel like Jeremiah: “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.” I doubt any of us are as expressive in our relationship with God as is Jeremiah! We might, however, learn to be more expressive, so that we can, like Jeremiah, lament in prayer to God so that we can move to deeper trust.
      Jeremiah was of the priestly line of Abiathar; Abiathar was ousted from Jerusalem by Solomon and sent to Anathoth (1 Kg 1:28-2:26). Jeremiah’s father, Hilkiah, was a priest of Anathoth, and perhaps Jeremiah was as well, when the call to be a prophet came to him. From the dates in his book, he was likely no more than 22 years old (Jer. 1:1-3). The Lord revealed to Jeremiah that even before he had formed Jeremiah in the womb, the Lord planned to appoint him a prophet (1:4-5). Jeremiah, like prophets before him, raised an objection: “Ah, Lord God! … I do not know how to speak. I am too young!” (1:6). Nevertheless, the Lord promises that he will be with Jeremiah and will give him the words he is to prophesy (1:7-10). Jeremiah was a prophet of deep passions, especially of love for God’s people and disdain for the sinfulness of the people, especially their leaders. His life was often threatened; eventually he will flee to Egypt (or be taken there by sympathizers) to save his life. At a number of points Jeremiah laments how hard it has been to continue to prophesying, even to the point of cursing the day of his birth (15:10; 20:14f).
      Today’s lament by Jeremiah is striking for he feels that the Lord has “duped”, “seduced”, “deceived” him (you pick the translation you prefer). As noted, Jeremiah cautioned the Lord when he was called, but seemed bolstered by Lord’s promised help. Even then, Jeremiah certainly didn’t “understand this responsibility”; he didn’t foresee all that would be asked of him: “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and outrage is my message; the word of the Lord has brought me derision and reproach all the day. I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more. But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.” His lament continues for a couple verses, but then, having poured it all out before the Lord, Jeremiah comes back to faith and to courage as a prophet: “But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not prevail. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion” (20:11).
      I imagine the disciples, especially Peter, may also feel a bit duped. When Jesus called Simon Peter and Andrew, there is nothing that indicates that they had even met Jesus. Yet, “At once they left their nets and followed him” (Mt 4:20). Similarly, James and John, sons of Zebedee, “immediately … left their boat and their father and followed [Jesus]” (4:22). They followed Jesus and witnessed his successful ministry of preaching, teaching, healing and exorcizing. Additionally, in recent weeks, we’ve heard Epiphany stories in which the identity of Jesus is revealed more fully, e.g.: Walking on the Water (14:22-33; “Truly, you are the Son of God!”); The Healing of the Canaanite Woman’s Daughter (15:21-28; revealed the breadth of Jesus’ mission); last week, Peter showed great understanding when he confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16).* Peter is praised for being open to what the “heavenly Father” had revealed to him. Additionally Jesus says, “…you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”(16:17-19).
      Given all of that, how could the disciples not feel a bit duped as “Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised”? This is new and at odds with what they’ve seen so far. Moreover, no one in Jesus’ time expected that the Messiah/Christ would suffer and be killed. So, “Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, ‘God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.’” Clearly Peter didn’t take the “must” or “it is necessary” seriously (16:21; also in Mk 8:31; Luke 9:22). There is no way for Jesus to be faithful to his mission as “the Christ, the Son of the living God”, than to go to Jerusalem where he will suffer and be killed by the forces opposed to him. We begin to see why, at the end of last week’s reading, Jesus had “…strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.” At this point, neither Peter nor the other disciples understand “Christ” completely. Even Peter quickly went from listening to the “heavenly Father” to Jesus’ harsh rebuke: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (quite the reversal from last week!).
At least Jesus didn’t call Peter the “Devil”. We tend to equate Satan and Devil—as they are in Rev. 20:2, a very late biblical text. “Devil” comes from the Greek word, διάβολος (diabolos), which means “slanderer” or “deceiver”. So, the Devil presents what is not true as true (we can certainly see that happening yet today). “Satan”, however, is a Hebrew word, שָׂטָן (satan), which means “adversary”, namely, one who presents another way of looking at something or someone. This can be especially seen in Job 1:6. Satan is among the “sons of God” [“angels of God” in Greek!] and presents another point of view to God about the man Job (ironically, this understanding of “Satan” is close to how we use “the devil’s advocate”). Peter’s proposal of another point of view, however, gets in the way of Jesus being true to his mission: “You are an obstacle to me” (only in Matthew’s version of this story).
      How great it is to follow “the Christ, the Son of the living God”? But, if he “must” suffer and and be killed, then what does that mean for his followers? Well, Jesus makes that clear: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” No wonder Peter wanted to propose an alternative! If we are honest, there may be times when we want to propose an easier way to our Lord as well. Like the Twelve, we can also want to avoid “the cross”. BTW, that had one meaning in that time, namely the form of execution carried out by the occupying Romans on non-Romans accused of a capital crime. More metaphorically, “the cross” is any suffering, struggle, hardship that we “must” face or “it is necessary” for us to face in order to be faithful disciples of “the Christ, the Son of the living God”.
      As goes the Christ, so also go his disciples. “It was necessary” for the Christ “to go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” The reference to resurrection, though not understood at the time, is, of course, our hope: “For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to [their] conduct” (Mt 16:27). Paul’s exhortation to the Romans brings this home: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”
*We can also recall the story of The Transfiguration (17:1-8); its Feast Day was Aug. 6. This has not yet occurred in Mt’s narrative, but in that story we hear the revelation: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”