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First Reading: Genesis 9:1-13
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them:
“Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.
Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth
and all the birds of the air,
upon all the creatures that move about on the ground
and all the fishes of the sea;
into your power they are delivered.
Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat;
I give them all to you as I did the green plants.
Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.
For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting:
from every animal I will demand it,
and from one man in regard to his fellow man
I will demand an accounting for human life.
If anyone sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
For in the image of God
has man been made.
Be fertile, then, and multiply;
abound on earth and subdue it.”
God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.
I will establish my covenant with you,
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood;
there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.”
God added:
“This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.”
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23
R./ From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
The nations shall revere your name, O Lord,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the Lord has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R./ From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the Lord:
“The Lord looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.”
R./ From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
The children of your servants shall abide,
and their posterity shall continue in your presence,
That the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion,
and his praise, in Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together,
and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
R./ From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
Gospel Reading: Mark 8:27-33
Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
to meet hardship and suffering
caused by others or for the sake of others
is often hard to take.
We complain and it shakes our trust.
Help us to accept suffering
as a part of life and a way to grow
and if we do not understand its mystery,
help us to bear it for others,
as Jesus did, your Son,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
First Reading Introduction: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
God makes a provisional covenant with people. Von Rad calls this the beginning of the patience of God. Life belongs to him too, for people can take the life of animals for their food provided the sign of life, blood, is drained from them, but the life of fellow human beings cannot be taken without punishment.
Gospel Introduction: You are the Christ. The Son of Man must suffer much.
The Gospel tells us today that Jesus asked his disciples one day who they thought he was, and Peter said: You are the Christ, that is, the promised Savior. But when Jesus told them, he would save people by his suffering and death before his resurrection, Peter protested. He could not accept a suffering Lord. For us too, it is hard to accept pain and contradiction. We grumble and protest: “Why me?” But, we have to learn from Jesus that pain and hardship is part of life, and often the way to life and joy. People who have suffered for others understand what love means.
General Intercessions
– For the Church, that it may not be ashamed of preaching the crucified Christ and of being self-effacing with him, we pray:
– For the stragglers in life, for the little people “who do not count,” that they may not be trampled underfoot by the high and the mighty, we pray:
– For those not adapted to life, for those whose ideas or conduct we do not share, that we may respect them and have a heart and a place for them, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in this Eucharist, we remember
the forgiveness and life
brought us by your Son in pain and death.
May we follow him not only
on his way to happiness and joy,
but also, when necessary,
on his way to the cross,
that we may live with him for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord, our God,
you have spoken to us in this Eucharist,
words of encouragement
and you have made us strong
with the bread of life of your Son.
Let him stay with us on the journey of life
not only on days of joy,
but also in dark moments,
when our bodies ache
or our hearts are wounded,
and help us to bring to each other
consolation and hope,
on account of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
Peter protested against the suffering that would mark the life and death, the saving act of Jesus. We also protest at times, for suffering hurts. Yet, we are followers of Christ. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
