DAILY DEVOTIONAL

September 30, 2018

Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”  Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” – Matthew 16:22-23

Peter is warned not to act as Satan acts, obscuring the truth, blinding the eyes, and conjuring delusions that make evil appear as something good.  And I sense, though this could apply to every generation, it especially applies to our own space and time.  The tactics of Satan are being used for supposedly holy causes.

We use violence and violent words to achieve that we determine as holy causes.  We use power to intimidate others rather than grace and mercy to transform others.  We use the blaming of others to exempt ourselves from responsibility.  We choose to condemn rather than confess.  We choose to conquer rather than make the peace.  We alloy the faith with Mammon and other worldly seductions rather seek the purity of angels Divine.

I see it al the time in these our times … people using the name of Christ in ways so far from the quality of spirit found in Christ.  Much like Peter did when he spoke so “nobly” about defending Christ from the crucifixion, we use worldly “virtues” to thwart the ways and wishes that flow from the heart of God.  We use military tactics, we use political tactics, we use business tactics to accomplish what we believe needs to be accomplished and we are oblivious to how those worldly tactics corrupt the holy within us and among us.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz