22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A (2026) – Homily
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Jeremiah 20:7-9
Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 (2b)
Romans 12:1-2
Matthew 16:21-27
August 30, 2026
When Jesus asked Peter, “who do you say that I am”, Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter got it write! Or did he?
Jesus then began to tell his disciples about his coming passion in Jerusalem in which He would “suffer greatly.” Peter responded by rebuking Jesus. How did Peter go from calling Jesus the Christ to rebuking him?
Peter did not fully understand yet. This is the first time Jesus told his disciples about his coming Passion. It did not make sense to Peter. How could the Messiah suffer? Peter is right in questioning this from his point of view at that point in time. He knows Jesus is the Messiah. In Peter’s understanding it is Jesus who should be defeating others.
What Peter says can also been seen as his love for Jesus. He doesn’t want Jesus to suffer.
Peter was stuck in the human way of seeing things. In resisting the very idea of Jesus’ suffering, Peter becomes an obstacle to Jesus fulfilling our Father’s plan to save us. Peter does not mean to be an obstacle. He just does not understand yet.
Do you cooperate with God’s Will or do you make yourself an obstacle to Jesus’ suffering work in the world?
Peter wanted to follow Jesus. Is God the one you seek? Does your flesh pine and your soul thirst for our Lord? Are you content to live in the shadow of our Lord’s wings or do you want things your way?
Things do not always go the way we want. Jeremiah was called by God to serve as his prophet. How hard can it be to do the Lord’s Will?
Jeremiah found it very hard. When he preached the “word of the Lord”, it brought him “derision and reproach.” Jeremiah found himself to be “an object of laughter” mocked by everyone.
He felt rejected by the people but it was not Jeremiah they were rejecting but the Lord. What God said to Samuel applies to Jeremiah, “You are not the one they are rejecting. They are rejecting me as their king” (1 Samuel 8:7).
Paul writes to the Romans urging them to offer their bodies “as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” as their “spiritual worship.” Do you offer yourself to the Lord as a sacrifice? Or do you conform yourself to the present world? We do well to “discern what is the will of God.” We need to read the signs of the times in the light of faith.
There are people who tell us to be silent about our faith. Rather than be ridiculed like Jeremiah, it might seem easiest to be silent. Even Jeremiah said, “I will not mention him.” He thought his life would become peaceful if he did not preach the Lord’s message.
What Jeremiah found out was that when he tried to become silent, the Lord’s message became like a fire burning in his heart. He grew weary trying to hold it in.
God does not give us His Word for us to hold it inside. Jesus says, “What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops” (Matthew 10:27).
When we share our faith, we might feel like we suffer for it. We need to view such suffering with Paul’s Word from Colossians 1:24 in mind, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.”
Jesus suffered greatly to save us from our sins. We need to be willing to suffer so that others may be saved. Jesus says to us, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Are you ready to deny yourself (stop doing things your own way) to follow Jesus? Are you ready to suffer as you take up your cross? Are you ready to let go of earthly ways (life) in favor of eternal life?
Peace,
Fr. Jeff