On the day of 7 August

At Augusta of the Vindelici* in Raetia, of Saint Afra, martyr, who, a sinner converted to Christ but not yet baptized, is said to have been delivered up to fire on account of her profession of Christ.

*Augsburg
**Saint/Feast of the day segment copied from the USCCB page.


Reading 1: Jeremiah 31:31-34

According to the footnotes in the New American Bible, prophets since Hosea were talking about this "new covenant". You know, God tried to tell us over and over that he had a whole new kind of arrangement coming for the whole world. It seems like he kept trying to figure out how to save humanity from our own crapulence. Well, apparently, he had a plan all along and gave us plenty of foreshadowing. For your reading pleasure, I give you the rest of the footnote: " [31-34] The new covenant to be made with Israel is a common theme of the prophets, beginning with Hosea. According to Jeremiah, the qualities of the new covenant that make it different from the old are: (a) It will not be broken, but will last forever; (b) Its law will be written in the heart, not merely on tablets of stone; (c) The knowledge of God will be so generally shown forth in the life of the people that it will no longer be necessary to put it into words of instruction. In the fullest sense, this prophecy was fulfilled only through the work of Jesus Christ; cf Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25."


Gospel Reading: Matthew 16:13-23


This confused me a little so I went and looked back at yesterday's reading. All of this happened before the transfiguration. So Peter already knew, in his heart, just like Jeremiah had prophesied, who Jesus was. This was something that Saint Afra (Ah, the tie-in with the saint!) spoke about in her confession, prior to being burned at the stake.

But the reading goes on to show that Peter got scared when Jesus told him that bad times were ahead. Peter wanted to protect Jesus from persecution. Understandable. Jesus was Peter's friend, and it must have been hard not to view him as flesh and blood. Jesus should have laughed at him instead of getting mad. Protect the living God made incarnate? It's pretty silly when you think about it. Poor Peter must have lived in confusion most of the time he was around Jesus. I think that all of us who have invited Jesus to be a part of our own lives has to live with that confusion a bit as well. I think that maybe these readings today have been about opening our hearts to hear the true words and direction of the Holy Spirit.