Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Mark (8: 27-33) in which Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say I am?” and Peter replies, “You are the Christ”.

Fr Paul says this is the turning-point of Mark’s Gospel. Till now the stories we have heard have all shown ever-increasing wonder and amazement at Jesus’ personality, his goodness and his authority.

But even his closest disciples do not seem to have seen what this implies. Then suddenly, after the blind man of Bethsaida receives his sight, Peter comes to the realisation that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed of God, for whom everyone was waiting. However, Peter still does not understand what this implies. Jesus is not a conquering political hero, who will simply wipe out all opposition by overwhelming force and make every path smooth and gentle.

Jesus begins to show his disciples that the road to fulfilment is through suffering.

Three times Jesus repeats this prophecy, and three times the disciples fail to grasp the lesson, first Peter, then the disciples who are arguing about precedence, then the two sons of Zebedee, who want the best places for themselves. So, three times Jesus repeats that if you want to follow Jesus, you must follow him to the Cross.

Fr Paul invites us to consider today’s Gospel Lesson – we, the followers of Jesus now, are also slow to learn this lesson – How often do we resist or avoid any suffering that comes our way?