Weary trying to hold it in

Sunday 30 August 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Jeremiah 20:7-9 Psalm 63(62) Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27

(See also Mark 8:34-9:1 and Luke 9:23-27 and John 12:25-26)

Meditatio:

 “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name’, then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." (Jeremiah 20:9)

Commentary:

There is a small irony in this Sunday’s reading. Last Sunday, we heard about the conferring of the keys on Peter, the rock on whom Christ builds his Church. This Sunday, immediately following that discourse, we hear Peter being called a stumbling block—a skandalon in Greek—ironically from the same Jesus who had just named him Petros, the rock.

Jesus does not mince his words: ‘Get behind me, Satan.’ Later in the Gospels we learn that Peter will deny the Lord three times, and yet be forgiven, restored and strengthened. His story is not one of perfection at once but of conversion.

Like Peter, we too can become stumbling blocks for others on life’s journey. By our attitudes, assumptions and ways of thinking, we can become instruments not of peace and unity but of discord, harm and alienation. Being a stumbling block is one thing; failing to recognise it and change is quite another. We can cling to self‑interest or to the approval of others while ignoring the demands of love. Many are deterred or scandalised because the light of Christ seems absent from our words, actions and manner of living.

Amen

There is at least one word in the sacred liturgy that is seldom used in ordinary life except, perhaps, ironically or emphatically: Amen. This word appears many times throughout the Mass and also in the Liturgy of the Hours. It means “so be it” or “truly.”

The Great Amen is proclaimed by all the faithful at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer. In it, we are saying ‘yes’ to all that has been prayed and proclaimed – to the saving power of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Worthy to receive? #1

Source: Pinterest

To receive Holy Communion is, to borrow a contemporary phrase, truly ‘awesome’. Indeed it is. While we ought to approach the Sacrament with confidence, joy, and hope, we should also pause and reflect on what it is that we are about to receive. It is no small thing to drink the cup of salvation, which is the Blood of Christ.

Jesus said to the disciples who sought places beside Him:

“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I am baptised?” (Mark 10:38).