3 September 2017
First reading
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Jeremiah 20:7-9
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You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced;
you have overpowered me: you were the stronger.
I am a daily laughing-stock,
everybody’s butt.
Each time I speak the word, I have to howl
and proclaim: ‘Violence and ruin!’
The word of the Lord has meant for me
insult, derision, all day long.
I used to say, ‘I will not think about him,
I will not speak in his name any more.’
Then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones.
The effort to restrain it wearied me,
I could not bear it.
you have overpowered me: you were the stronger.
I am a daily laughing-stock,
everybody’s butt.
Each time I speak the word, I have to howl
and proclaim: ‘Violence and ruin!’
The word of the Lord has meant for me
insult, derision, all day long.
I used to say, ‘I will not think about him,
I will not speak in his name any more.’
Then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones.
The effort to restrain it wearied me,
I could not bear it.
Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 62(63):2-6,8-9
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Second reading
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Romans 12:1-2
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Think of God’s mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, by offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you, but let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do.
Gospel Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Gospel
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Matthew 16:21-27
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Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?
‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour.’
Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?
‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour.’
Reflection
by Gary Tulabut
In my classes, I make sure that everybody is given the opportunity to speak during recitations. So, with a simple macro program, I made this random student picker from an Excel worksheet. With the picker, a seat plan is projected on the board where names of students are seen by everyone. Once I click a button, each of the seats shown on the board will be alternately and randomly highlighted. The highlight changes 100 times in five seconds. The student whose name is highlighted when the random picker stops will get to recite.
This makes our recitation days (which is every day) both fun and nervous. But generally, students enjoy being in my classes despite (or probably even because of) this.
One thing I noticed in my classes is that many students are afraid to speak their minds. Well, some because they really are not prepared. But some, especially the bright but shy ones, are just afraid to make mistakes. So I always remind them not to be afraid to make mistakes. That committing mistakes is better than not trying. That they actually have to commit many “first mistakes” in life to succeed and not to commit the same mistakes over and over again. And my list goes on and on. Most of them I got from talks and seminars I listened or attended to in the past.
St. Peter is always known to be bold and outspoken. Sometimes being carried away by emotions and doing things without thinking. And he has committed many mistakes because of this. For example, in the Gospel reading three Sundays ago, he asked Jesus to let him walk on water with Him. But he sank when waves of water approached him due to his “little faith” according to Jesus.
What about when he was hot-headed and cut the ear of one of those who came to arrest Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane? Only to deny Jesus three times before the break of dawn just hours after that.
In today’s Gospel, when Jesus was telling His disciples how He would suffer the hands of the enemies, the show-off St. Peter tried to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."
And just like that Jesus just called St. Peter, well, “Satan.” Well, Jesus might actually be talking to Satan that time but He was directing His words towards Peter. If you were St. Peter, what would you do? Get disheartened? Resigned from ministry? Form your own group?
Good thing St. Peter did not do those things. Just look at who he has become.
We will not be as great as St.Peter, no. But in our own little endeavors in the different aspects of life, may we use our mistakes as lessons to be learned, as stepping stones towards achieving greatness.
Father, for the many mistakes we committed against You, please forgive us. May we all learn from those mistakes and strive to be better so we can give You more glory on earth as in heaven. Amen.
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