22th Sunday of the year: Betraying God’s trust

Are we happy? That’s the question. But that is not an easy question. What does it mean to be happy? Does it mean the same for all?

We have been made to believe in the past years that we will only be happy if we exercise our freedom by choosing among possibilities. In the past, arranged marriages were possible and some managed to be happy, even if they did not choose their spouse. Today that is unthinkable. I am not advocating a return to arranged marriages. I am merely pointing out that our culture has changed the way we think about freedom and happiness.

Today, not only are arranged marriages seldom possible, even chosen spouses have difficulty in living together. In some countries, divorce rates are getting close to 50 %. But this is not about family life. Today, even recently ordained priests leave the priesthood within their 5 first years.

Staying committed is hard. To decide to commit seems to be a luxury today. People decide to marry much later and less often. The much-talked-about vocation crisis has here its roots. Fear of commitment is not about marriage but is about our culture and the idea of happiness and freedom. Shall I stay if I am not happy?

The idea that I can walk out and my next choice will bring me happiness, is today’s way of understanding happiness and freedom. Happiness is measured in terms of freedom and comfort. If I like it here and I choose to be here, then I am happy.

Once upon a time there was a prophet that felt like quitting. Jeremiah had an intimate relationship with the Lord. A kind of intimacy that could only be compared with courtship and marriage. However, he found himself a laughing stock in return for his faithfulness. He promised himself not to think about God anymore. He tried quitting only to find himself unable to do so. In his own words, “there seemed to be a fire burning” in his heart that he could not resist. He had to speak in God’s name. It was a case of an irresistible force meeting a seemingly unmovable object. He tried quitting, but he could not.

Peter, in today’s gospel, did not plan to quit, but inadvertently misused his recently acquired power. We remember how Peter had received the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus had entrusted Peter with the power to act in His name: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:19).

After such trust, Jesus was ready to leave not without first telling his disciples that he was leaving and how he was leaving. Peter, who just came to know that the power of the underworld, would not prevail under his direction, and could not accept such an end. But failing to accept such a plan, he became a source of temptation for Jesus, an invitation for Jesus to quit. In the words of Jesus, he was acting like Satan, tempting Jesus to quit.

However, Jesus rejected this temptation but not without caring for Peter in a surprising manner. Jesus did not send him away or punished him for his first attempt to use his power to deal with matters in his own view. Jesus put Peter in his right place: behind. Not away, so that he was diminished. Not in front, that he would keep leading with such mistaken ideas, but behind as a follower, and not as a leader.

In our daily lives, we all have our fair share of betrayals. At times we are the victims. In more disappointing instances, we are the victimizers. We are tempted to quit being faithful. To quit friendships, to quit marriages, to quit families, to quit commitments, to quit standing by God. We are not alone. Prophets, like Jeremiah, were tempted. Peter betrayed his mission of leading the church as Jesus would, by attempting to lead it according to “flesh and blood”. Jesus was also tempted by Satan and Peter to quit.

Jeremiah was saved by a mysterious zeal he could not even comprehend. Jesus was saved because of His unique intimacy with the Father. Peter was saved by Jesus’ rebuking correction. What would save us? When the moment of temptation comes, would we realize that running away is never the way? Would we find a zeal that overpowers our thirst to quit? Would our intimacy with God be enough.

St. Paul gave us a sound advice: if you want to know the will of God, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Rm 12:2). Do not be faithful to the ways of the world but dictate when you are happy or free. Life is not about having the capacity to run away from our situations but the capacity to choose a meaningful life even when it is not an easy or comfortable life. A life full of meaning like Jeremiah’s, Peter’s and Jesus’.