Saint Gregory the Great
Seduced By God
The word seduce literally means to entice or to attract someone powerfully and sometimes one cannot refuse but only to fall for the attraction. On this Sunday, let us look into ourselves and see what seduces most in life. In the first reading, we see Jeremiah complaining that God has seduced him. He was convinced that following God would lead him to success and an easy life; instead, he ended up as what seems a total failure. In the gospel, peter and all the Apostles were really seduced by Christ and Peter too thinks like Jeremiah and could not accept any suffering to happen to Christ as well as his followers.
Jesus however spells out conditions and what one has to undergo if seduced by God and want to follow him closely so that nobody will be able to say that they were seduced with a flattery or false promises. Paul in the second reading g gives us how we should live and do when seduced by God, to present our bodies as living sacrifices and not to be conformed to the world. He invites not to go along with the way everybody thinks. Being seduced by God is a theme that runs through this Sunday's readings and tells us that it is not easy life to be seduced by God and so we have to be prepared when we find ourselves seduced.
When Jesus prophesied that he is going to Jerusalem and be arrested by the chief priest, put to death and rise from the dead on the third day, Peter rebuked Jesus not to talk about suffering, after all he is the Messiah. Jesus rebukes Peter and tells him, 'Get behind me Satan because Peter did not understand what entails following Jesus. He was thinking in human terms. Firstly, Peter could not imagine the suffering Messiah who would even die in the hands of the chief priests and elders because the traditional understanding of the Messiah was that he was to become a political King who would rule over Israel. Secondly, Peter could not imagine that following a person like Jesus, Son of God whom he had confessed earlier, entails suffering, but he would think of only a good life. That's why he tries to stop Jesus from talking about persecution and suffering.
Why did Jesus use the word "Satan" when he addressed Peter? When Jesus went out into the wilderness to prepare for his public ministry, Satan came to tempt him to follow a different path than the one chosen by the Father in heaven. Now Jesus recognizes in Peter's response another temptation to seek a different and less costly path for accomplishing his mission than the way of the cross. The word "Satan" literally means "adversary" - one who stands in opposition. Jesus reminds Peter that his role is not to be an adversary but a disciple - one who gets behind his Master to follow with trust and obedience.
Jesus clearly tells us that being seduced by God and accepting that seduction involves the following: Giving oneself or self-denial, losing one's life, carrying one's cross, and following him. We can wonder why God let's those who follow Him and give up everything for His sake, to suffer and go through threatening moments. Even, when St Teresa of Avila fell off her horse into a cold river, her comment was, ‘Lord, if that is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them.’ The cross of Jesus on one hand is following his commandments and on the other hand to be ready to face persecution, challenges and rejection as he himself did because the way of the master is the way of the disciple. The good news is that we don't suffer in vain, we become victorious and earn eternal life just as Jesus conquered Satan and death by his suffering and death. In fact, as Jeremiah could not bear the effort which pushed him to restrain speaking in the name of God, when you are seduced by God, the power of God always moves you even if you feel not like continuing, God will always move you and give you strength to move on.
What is seducing you to go to Church, to join religious life, to the sodality and movement you are in or to becoming a Christian? It is possible that some of us we are seduced by other things to become who we are in the Church rather than God himself and the service of his people like fame, social belonging or even financial reason. If you find that you cannot move ahead in following God and serving his people when adversity, suffering and persecution comes, then it might not be God seducing you and you will need to reexamine yourself and see what is seducing you because God will always give you the graces and lighten your cross so that you keep following him.
St Paul in the second reading encourages us that when we are seduced by God, we should offer our bodies as living sacrifice truly pleasing to God and as well as living as Christians for it is the perfect thing to do. Paul stresses that the motivation comes from within it is a matter no longer of the external compulsion of the Law, but of inner compulsion, for the Christian has become a living sacrifice, dedicated to God with minds transformed, discerning personally the will of God and acting upon this discernment. This is Christian personal responsibility: we must ‘discern for ourselves what is the will of God’ and give up our lives for doing His will.
Jesus ends by asking us a question especially to us who would like to save our earthly life on the expense of the eternal life: "What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?" Jesus poses these questions to challenge our assumptions about what is most profitable and worthwhile in life. In every decision of life, we are making ourselves a certain kind of person. It is possible that some can gain all the things they have set their heart on, only to wake up suddenly and discover that they missed the most important thing of all. Of what value are material things if they don't help you gain what truly lasts for eternity. Neither money nor possessions can buy heaven, mend a broken heart, or cheer a lonely person.
Reflect today on how you feel that God has seduced you in your life. Are you ready to take up your cross and follow Jesus whatever the circumstances may be. Pray for the Holy Spirit to always help you discover God's will in your life and do it with all zeal.
Let us pray.
Oh God, you have seduced me and speaking in your name is always my delight. Help me to always discover your will and do it in my life. Amen
Be blessed.
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