Not My Words

If you haven’t gone to Mass today, don’t read any further!! Spoilers ahead!!!!

Just kidding. Not about the spoilers, but go ahead and read. It’s good to know the readings ahead of time.

So the gospel reading for today is when Jesus revealed himself to his apostles. But He did not flat out tell them who he was. Rather He asked and, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Peter declared “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. Jesus responded: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Heavenly Father. So I call you Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” (Please note that these are not direct quotes since my Bible is not with me.) It’s amazing. At that moment, Peter completely and totally relied on God. There is NO WAY he should have known who Jesus was. He may have guessed Messiah; that wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. But to say that Jesus is the SON of GOD… that’s pretty much unheard of. Peter took that moment of inspiration, went with it, and that was that.

But as we know, that’s not the end of the story. In practically the next verse Peter tries to take ownership of his role and tell Jesus what not to do. “No Lord, you will NOT go die in Jerusalem”. It’s almost as if he had a little taste of relying on God, and then turned right back and tried to do his own thing. In the homily at the Mass today, our priest talked about how throughout the Gospel Peter had the journey from realizing the possibility of relying on God, to relying on himself up until after the crucifixion when he ran. But afterward, he takes up the mantle as leader of Christ’s new church. Once Pentecost comes and Peter realizes the power of God, there is nothing that can stop him.

Only a few days ago, we had our team announcements when the staff finally told us what areas we will be serving this year and who we will be serving with. This year I will be in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore, which for those of you who don’t know that is in the south of Ireland. It is the team I wanted to be on, and in one of the two counties I did not go to last year!!!! Just yesterday I found out that I will be serving my team specifically through leading the dramas, experiential learning activities, and making sure we have what we need on retreats!

A picture (albeit blurry one) of the new Waterford Lismore NET team on our first team day out!!!

It is very nice to have the specific duties we will have on team. But one of the things that we have been learning on training is that it’s not about what we do. We have been told many times that this ministry year is not about us. Which sounds sort of obvious, but even in a sense it’s not about what we do for others. We are not defined by our service, and we are not supposed to do it alone. When Peter worked alone, he told Christ that he would never abandon him only to run away when times got difficult. I am supposed to lead the dramas. I am supposed to make sure our activities run well. But I am supposed to do it through Jesus. I am supposed to let Jesus work through me so that HIS will is done. Not mine.

Anyway we’ve reached about the mid-point in training. There’s a lot of work still to be done, and I’ve still got a lot to learn. Please keep praying for me, my team, and the young people in the Diocese of Waterford Lismore!!!!

Pope Saint John Paul II and Saint Faustina, pray for us!