Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024)

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Best Advice: Get Behind Me.

Jesus calls Peter Satan. That seems to be a bit harsh. Why does Jesus call Peter, Satan? Not too long ago, Satan had stood in front of Jesus in the desert to tell Him what to do. Imagine telling the Son of God what to do. What did Satan ever do to contribute to creation?  Did Satan ever help God fill one of the oceans with water?  I don’t think so.  Did Satan help out by creating one of the solar systems in the universe?  Apparently not.  Did he help construct the Himalayas? Nope. Did Satan contribute a single fruit fly? Satan did nothing, and he stood before the Son of God, telling Him what to do. And so when Peter stood in front of Jesus telling Him what to do, Jesus called him Satan. Yet, before Jesus called Peter Satan, He gave him some really great advice that we need to hear from time to time. “Get behind Me.”

Did you ever have one of those days when you don’t seem to get anything done?  Your calls go unanswered, or you go to get something, and there is a missing part. Your day goes by, and you have nothing to show for it.  I was not having one of those days. It was the day on which we started to replace the roof tiles. Br. Dave Guza had a brother who was a professional roofer who came out to supervise the project. I asked Dave’s brother what he wanted me to do, and he told me to get a dumpster so we could begin stripping the roof. I called one company, and they said, “Are you kidding? This is fourth of July weekend, we don’t have any dumpsters.” Another company needed a twenty-four-hour notice. So, I told the supervisor I could not get a dumpster. He said to me, “We are in Boston. I am sure there an empty dumpster somewhere that we can get.” So I looked in the yellow pages again, lo and behold I had missed one: Doctor Dumpster. I called the doc, and he asked, “When do you want it?” I answered, “About a half hour ago.”  He replied, “I can be there in forty minutes.” 

After the dumpster arrived, we stripped the roof. The supervisor gave us long metal poles you. You simply slide the pole under the slate tile and pull up. Like magic, all the tiles rolled down the roof, and we had it stripped in no time. Then it was time to pull the nails. He gave us a harness and connected it with a security line. And we walked on the roof, pulling the nails. In no time, the roof was clean and ready to put on the new fire and ice.

That is what happens when you have a good leader. I was like magic. I was never so productive and successful. So when Jesus tells us to “Get behind Me,” it is really great advice for all of us who like to stand in front of God and tell Him what to do and how to run things. Outstanding leadership is a gift because it allows us to be productive. So Christ is the greatest gift the Father could give us if we just follow one simple rule: get behind Him.