Today’s Gospel proclamation describes the interaction between Jesus and Peter, where Peter tries to persuade Jesus that he should not suffer and die. We should ponder our reactions to others in their tribulations. If we try to understand the emotions and feelings of Peter towards Jesus, it is indeed a genuine human concern he is showing towards Jesus where he thinks maybe Jesus is not seeing the perspective that he sees.

Peter was like us who show our genuine concern for our family and friends. Some of the things we have to go through in this life strengthen us in our faith, which is the pathway we have to go through to be stronger.
We need to understand that God’s plan for us does not end here on earth but his plan for us extends to our eternal life with him. When our loved ones have to go through certain trials and tribulations as such, our defense mechanisms activate unconsciously.

Jesus is teaching us that in every situation we need to seek the will of God. There is no exception to this. We may try to be selective when we seek the will of God in our lives but when we take Jesus as our role model and Saviour, we see that he never separated his life and God. It was all one. This is what he is inviting us to do as well.
Seeking God in every situation may be difficult if we try with our own strength. This is the reason that Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, to be with us all the time, advocating and counseling us and leading us in the truth. This truth is not the way of the world that we see around us.

The world may say that suffering is only pain and it only resembles punishment. It is not so, even the greatest pain we go through can be turned into a blessing for us and many others just as it happened in the life of Jesus. We only need to come to God as we are and surrender ourselves. When we give the truth of our hearts to the Lord, he will fill us with the Holy Spirit which will guide us to help others.

The Holy Spirit can help us to understand God’s will in our lives rather than being framed in our ways of thinking. Comfort, luxury, and being healthy may be blessings according to the world, but not to us as Christians.
Anything from the hands of God should be a blessing to us; when we accept any situation in the Holy Spirit, it will bring us happiness. Therefore let us seek true happiness from Christ alone.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the strength and right mind to discern your will and work according to your plan. Amen.