Several months ago, I shared with you my superpower. Who remembers what my superpower is?

Okay. Wow. My superpower is that I can sleep anywhere, at any time. I am a great sleeper. So in light of today’s gospel, I thought I would share my other superpower. And that is, I can pick the wrong line just standing in any department store, supermarket or drug store. I will always be in the wrong line. I’ve even moved from a line that was moving quicker to get into a line that slowed down.

It’s a new pace. It’s an amazing gift. It is so amazing that I was actually in BJ’s once in line and I was maybe one back and a woman had two coupons. Now the coupon was for a free turkey and she had two coupons and two turkeys. The problem on the bottom of one of the coupons it read one per customer.

Now, it would seem pretty clear that the line should move along now. She either pays for two turkeys or leaves one, right? No, no, she has a sister who was not with her, but who was the other coupon? So she was not going to give up. She has a sister. Two turkeys to two ponds. She was right for 45 minutes.

We went through this. At one point, I even offered to buy the turkey for her to get this line moving. It didn’t work. In the end, the BJ’s manager relented and just told her to buy the turkey. Persistence won out. Now, this should sound very familiar to you because in today’s gospel, Saint Peter has two coupons. One that says you’re the Lord and Savior.

The other one that says, I don’t agree with you. Don’t ever say that again. And he throws both coupons. The dilemma. Jesus isn’t buying it. Jesus is not the BJ’s manager. Jesus makes it very clear to us that in order for him to be our Lord and Savior, he must suffer, die so that he can rise again. Now, in this debate with Peter, whose side are we?

Are we on Peter’s side? That’s not what I believe. I believe that you’re the Messiah. You’re the king. You’re going to be the one who throws the Romans out. Don’t say you’re going to die. Or the Lord who says, take up your cross daily and follow me. Whose side? Peter or the Lord’s? We clearly have one Peter over here.

So it’s a very interesting question, but it is at the heart of the gospel. When faced with pain or uncertainty, which one are we going to choose our faith in Jesus Christ that is going to include that pain and suffering or something that the world might offer us? It is really very touchy. Who’s right? Peter or Jesus? Who has our sympathies?

Who was the one that we really agree with? Our teacher or the disciple? Consider Peter just professed his faith in Jesus Christ. You are the Lord. How often in our daily lives do we profess our faith in Jesus? And when we do, we say publicly that he is the Anointed one, that he is Lord and Savior, that he is King of the universe.

That he is the one who suffered, died, and rose. That we might live forever. And he is the Lord that gives himself to us in the Eucharist. That’s everything that we profess in his ministry and mission. Jesus, over and over again shows us his power to heal his authority over demons, that he is even our great High Priest.

So when he adds one more dimension suffering, rejection, and death so that we might live forever. Where do we stand? Does like Peter it make us sad so much that we want to say, no, you don’t. You can’t do that to me. Don’t pull this suffering servant. I don’t want to hear that. Do we ask ourselves the question, was the crucifixion really necessary?

Or was it just God being me? Where do we stand? In today’s first reading, we heard the prolog to the Suffering Servant passage. It is that understanding of ours that to love means that we are willing even to put up with pain and suffering. So at this point, I want to ask on Catechetical Sunday, do we have the parents of a 16 year old teenager with us?

Where are the parents of teenagers? Come on, tell us the truth. Say no one is going to be all we have. One honest father. Two thirds of the way down. Tell us the truth. Your teenagers are the joy of your life, aren’t they? They cause you no pain, no suffering, no grief. They are a delight 24 hours a day, aren’t they?

Of course they are. How many of you have a teenage daughter, or in the future are going to have a teenage daughter? I was the president of an all girls academy. Wait til they’re 16. You don’t know the meaning of drama yet, but you will find out. But does that mean that we love our teenagers any less?

Of course not. We’re ready to put up with the drama. With everything in the name of love. So it is with our faith. We have faith that God, our father, loves us so much that he sent us his only begotten son. We have hope in salvation in Christ through his passion, his death, his suffering, and his resurrection. And we live in the love of the Holy Spirit that sends us out to those who live on the margins, those who are suffering, those who are lost.

Those who are most in need of our love. When we think of this passage, do we want to be with Peter and hear the words? Get behind me, Satan! Or do we want to hear the words of Jesus Christ? Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into my kingdom. Which one? Whose side do we stand on? When we celebrate this Eucharist, we come with self-denial.

We believe that Jesus will grace us for our love and generosity to the poor, the destitute, those who live on the margins. So today, what crosses will the Lord ask us to bear? What are we willing to suffer in the name of Christ Jesus, for his sake and for the sake of the gospel? What will our faith bring us today?

And are we willing to say yes? Like I say, a suffering servant. Are we going to accept the calling, perhaps to ridicule or persecution for our faith? Are we willing to have that encounter with Christ that leads us to the Eucharist? Why? We’re here today and today? Are we going to feel the encounter with Christ that will give us our share of his mission and ministry?

How today will we live our faith like Peter? Like Jesus? Like a woman buying two turkeys. App.js. Who had two coupons? She was going to get that coupon no matter what with the turkey. Are we going to be like Peter who has two coupons? One that says, yes, Lord, you are the Messiah. The other one that says, I don’t want to hear it.

I don’t want to hear it. Which one today will we use? Will we be like Peter? Or like Jesus? His mission in ministry. Ministry which is the same yesterday, today and forever.