NOTES for Mar 8:31-32

Peter loved Jesus very much. But this love became perfect only after the Cross. Before that it was childishly naive, selfish, and weak. We too often think that we love, but in practice this is the satisfaction of our own needs. Look at funerals. People weep, but if they truly believed, they would feel luminous sorrow. There might be tears, but there would be no anguish in them. Anguish is always about oneself. We do not want our beloved to die. We are afraid of this. Almost anyone will tell you that there is nothing more frightening for us; even our own death does not frighten us as much as the death of someone close.

And to this very most frightening thing in the world, the Lord says through the apostle's mouth: "there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Peter is afraid for Jesus, he does not want anything to happen to Him, but this fear comes from a lack of faith and therefore hinders the providential paths of the Lord.

It is very difficult to attain perfect love. For Peter this required passing through the trial of the Cross of the beloved person, and this is probably why the words about Peter in today's reading are followed by the words about the cross. And specifically about one's own cross, for the cross of the beloved becomes your cross.