Maybe it happened in your life sometime, that you wanted to make someone very happy and you did something for them, maybe a surprise, and they were not happy at all. They may have been very angry with you for what you did. This happens to me all the time. In the gospel today, it happens to St. Peter. Jesus tells the apostles that he is going to have to suffer and die on the cross, and St. Peter does not want to hear this because he loves Jesus. Peter says: ‘Jesus you must not die on the cross, you must not suffer’. Peter thinks that he is being nice to Jesus, that he is defending him, but Jesus knows he has to die on the cross and he has to suffer. Fot this he gives Peter a very severe correction. Peter was expecting to recive a compliment or a clap on the back, but he is now very disappointed and embrassed. He could have gone into a corner, he could have said: that is the last time I am going to try to say something nice, let someone else speak and let them get into trouble. If Peter had said that, we would never have had St. Peter. He did not get bitter, he did not get discouraged, he kept his eyes on Jesus, and one day he would give his own life for Jesus on the cross. He felt he was not worhty to die like Jesus, and that is why, according to tradition, he was crucified upsde down. Inside each of us there is a Peter, and there are times when we get disappointed, embarassed and discouraged. At moments like that, we must keep our eyes on Jesus; He will take our hand, he will get us back on our feet, and he will get us going again. One of the great movies that I have ever seen is: “A man for all seasons. A British film based on the life of Sir Thomas Moore. Sir Thomas Moore was the Lord Chancellor of England, a lawyer, a statesman, a confidant of Kings. He was serving Henry VIII. Henry VIII wanted to become head of the Church of England. The whole church and all the noblemen gave in, because they were afraid of what the King would do. Sir Thomas Moore refused to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul King Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and resigned rather rather than take an Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry supreme head of the Church of England. There is a very moving part in the movie when his daughter visits him in jail in the tower of London and asks him to make the oath even if he does not mean it. There is a parallel story of another person, Richard Rich, who was a close friend of Thomas Moore, who agrees to perjure himself and testify against Thomas Moore in exchange to become the attorney General of Wales. There is a part in the movie when Thomas Moore questions Richard Rich: “You’re wearing a chain of office; what is that chain? It is the chain of office of the attorney General of Wales? Thomas Moore said: “It profits not a man to win the whole world and loose his soul, but for Wales? We are confronted with the same question; What path will you follow? the path of self-protection, promotion or the path of self-emptying love. Everything will depend on how you answer that question?