In last Sunday’s reading, we hear that Peter confidently recognises Jesus as Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus tells Peter he is the rock on which he will build his Church. This week Jesus tells the disciples he is to be put to death and raised up on the third day. Peter starts to argue with Jesus, but Jesus says to Peter “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path”. So, Peter who got things so right last week, now gets things so wrong. The rock is now a stumbling block. Peter who had received that divine revelation last week is now seeing Jesus in purely human terms and therefore Peter’s natural desire is to prevent anything bad happening to Jesus. He has not fully understood the nature of Jesus’ mission.

Jesus tells his disciples that they will need to take up their cross and follow him. Today, let’s think about what crosses we need to carry.  What hurdles do we face in our lives at the moment? Whatever our cross is, when embraced with love and trust in God we know he will be with us helping to carry our load. 

I think we are all very much like Peter; we have our good weeks and bad weeks; we get things right and we get things wrong. On occasions we misread the situation or misunderstand what’s being asked of us, both practically and spiritually. We have to accept this. After all, we are only human, it’s in our nature. Let us offer up a prayer of thanks to Jesus this weekend that whilst we may stumble from time to time under the burden of the cross we bear and our human failings, Jesus is always there to pick us up and help us back on our feet again.

I do hope you enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend,