... a pilgrim's prayer journal ...

"You are the Christ, the son of The Living God"

Mtt 16:13 

Who you say the Son of Man is? 

When Peter responds to Jesus he knows that Jesus is the Messiah.  He has turned out to be very different from the messiah they thought they had been waiting for all their lives.  It was by the grace of God that Peter recognised Jesus and only by God's grace is Peter ever going to be qualified to lead the church.

We know by now that the disciples took a long time to learn what Jesus was teaching them patiently every day for the years of His ministry.  We know too that Peter is about to be rebuked by Jesus for trying to stand in the way of God's plan for our salvation.

However, even though Peter will deny Jesus at the last moment on Good Friday, he still becomes the Rock upon which the Church will be built.

What about us?  We may well feel unqualified for the tasks God has for us.  Even though we know Jesus is the Messiah and our only Way to heaven, we might still be trying to change the course of God's plan for us. So often we don't want to accept whatever we perceive to be too hard, too demanding or even too extraordinary for our small lives to cope with.

However, just like Peter, we need to rely on God's grace, His action in our lives, His formation of our hearts.  We need to be teachable and available for His will.  

Though Peter was remonstrating with Jesus because he wanted to protect Him from suffering, he was still blocking the will of God, putting himself in the way of the plan God had in mind for our salvation.

Let's not let our own 'good intentions' stand in the way of God's will for us.  If God has called us to to a thing, then He will qualify us to do it.  Its not up to us to decide if this call fits into a polite pattern of pleasing others or fulfilling apparent expectations.  If God has called us to something, then He will bring it to completion, just as He did with seemingly rather hapless Peter.  

Mary didn't let all the risks or consequences of her situation stop her or try to convince the angel to change the plan. Her 'fiat' was said humbly, joyfully, fully relying on God to qualify her for the task ahead, in spite of her littleness and the seeming impossibility of the task.

Let's follow her example, every day.