The great Christian “revolution”
Peter, a stumbling block for Jesus
JESUS is talking with the apostles. After Peter says that He is the Messiah and the Son of God, our Lord begins speaking about what awaits Him in Jerusalem: the suffering inflicted by the elders, chief priests and scribes, his condemnation and death, and finally, his resurrection on the third day (cf. Mt 16:21). The apostles, however, fail to grasp the meaning of these words. They have seen Jesus work miracles, with a power that surpasses the forces of nature. Perhaps they were expecting a clear victory for their Master that would free Israel from Roman rule and establish a glorious kingdom, like in the times of Solomon. But these expectations now clash head-on with the announcement of the Cross: how could the Messiah end like this?
The apostles continue to judge according to worldly standards and need to transform their old way of viewing the world (cf. Rom 12:2). Pain, illness, and loneliness are often seen today as evils to be avoided at all costs. Certainly, Christ is not asking us to actively seek out these unpleasant situations. “God does not want suffering. He bears it with us and invites us to trust in him perseveringly.”[1] Thus He teaches us that even in the midst of the painful situations that we spontaneously reject, the new life He comes to give us can be found. As Leo XIV reminds us: “It is necessary to pass through the passion of the Crucified One to be enlightened by the glory of the Risen One, for from the beginning, the Father teaches us to give our lives, and the Son, who receives life from him, gives it to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is precisely why the Cross is the radiant sign of his love.”[2]
Saint Josemaría said that “the great Christian revolution has been to convert pain into fruitful suffering and to turn a bad thing into something good. We have deprived the devil of this weapon; and with it we conquer eternity.”[3] The adversity that we find in our life does not have the final word. God can use it to bring forth unexpected blessings and open new horizons. This does not eliminate the pain we experience, but it enables us to face it with a new meaning, as Jesus did in his Passion. The scourging, the blows, and the insults caused Him real suffering, but the desire to fulfill the Father’s will and save humanity led him to give himself completely.
AS ON OTHER occasions, it is Peter who speaks up and gives voice to the general sentiment of the apostles: “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” (Mt 16:22). If Jesus is the Messiah, as he has just confirmed to them, it makes no sense for Him to die at the hands of the leaders of his people. Our Lord had just told him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Mt 16:18). Perhaps that is why he feels authorized to reproach Christ in this way. But our Lord responds with words that must have made a deep impact on the apostle: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men.” (Mt 16:23). Peter has gone from being the “rock” that will withstand the powers of hell to being Satan himself.
Christ spoke to Peter in this way because He wanted to radically change his perspective on reality. He wanted him to acquire a divine sensitivity to everything the world presents as evil. Indeed, fear and despair arise as a consequence of the action of the devil in the world and within us, seeking to turn us away from Christ’s Cross. At times we can give in to this temptation and lose our peace when something in our life doesn’t meet our expectations. To see things as God does, in contrast, involves discovering Christ’s face in every situation, in both life’s joys and sorrows. “The path of the Christian, the path of every person, is not easy. To be sure, at certain times it seems as though everything goes as we had planned. But this generally lasts for only a short time. Life is a matter of facing up to difficulties and of experiencing in our hearts both joy and sorrow. It is in this forge that we can acquire fortitude, patience, magnanimity and composure.”[4]
Thus, when painful moments come, we can renew our commitment to be, like the apostle, the rock Christ can build on. These trying circumstances don’t mean that we have failed in our mission; rather they are an opportunity to mature in our vocation, to abandon ourselves in God’s hands and place all our hope in Him. As Pope Leo XIV said: “In those dark hours, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus shared our pain and revealed to us the face of a compassionate God, who bears our sorrows, who suffers with us, weeps our tears and remains at our side with his presence full of love and mercy.”[5]
AFTER rebuking Peter, Jesus addresses all the apostles: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). With these words, our Lord shows us the path of the true disciple: trusting more in Him than our own ideas and certainties, knowing that this implies taking up the Cross. “It is not just a matter of patiently enduring daily tribulations, but of bearing with faith and responsibility the toil, the suffering that the struggle against evil entails. The life of Christians is always a struggle. The Bible says that the life of the believer is warfare: to fight against the evil spirit, to fight against Evil.”[6]
Following Christ demands struggle: a “hand-to-hand”[7] combat against the presence of evil in the world and in our own lives. But this struggle “is not something negative and therefore hateful, but rather a joyful affirmation. It is a sport. A good sportsman doesn’t fight to gain just one victory, and that at the first attempt . . . He keeps trying again and again, and if he doesn’t succeed at the first attempt, he keeps on trying with determination.”[8] Just as athletes strive to put into practice everything needed to win and to avoid whatever might be a hindrance, Christians strive to strengthen their friendship with God and set aside whatever might weaken it. Sometimes this will mean trying to pray despite being tired, receiving the sacraments even when we have many things to do, serving more generously those with whom we find it more difficult to get along with, or not giving free reign to our affections, cutting ties with anything that might distance us from God.
And, like any athlete, when we experience defeat, we get up quickly, with our sights set on the next “race.” “From personal experience,” Saint Josemaría said, “you know that the interior life consists in beginning and beginning again each day; and you sense in your heart, as I do in mine, that we need to struggle continually.”[9] At times, the need for this struggle may be more evident; at other times, however, we may not be facing any special difficulties. In any case, we know that our journey on earth consists in “struggling, out of Love, until the very last moment.”[10] And on this path, close to the Cross, we will always find our Lady.
[1] Leo XIV, Vigil of prayer, 9 June 2026.
[2] Leo XIV, Homily, 10 June 2026.
[3] Saint Josemaría, Furrow, no. 887.
[4] Saint Josemaría, Friends of God, no. 77.
[5] Leo XIV, Vigil of prayer, 9 June 2026.
[6] Francis, Angelus, 30 August 2020.
[7] Saint Josemaría, Furrow, no. 126.
[8] Saint Josemaría, The Forge, no. 169.
[9] Saint Josemaría, Friends of God, no. 13.
[10] Saint Josemaría, In Dialogue with the Lord, no. 83.