The readings at this time of year cover Jesus' miracles and teaching. This is where we meet the Jesus of the every day, the Jesus of farmers and fisherman, who told stories of lost sheep, a man beaten up by the roadside, a ponsy landowner, fishers of men, treasure buried in a field, seed sown by the wayside, or, as in today's gospel, where Jesus talks of his imminent demise and St Peter tries to play it down, only to be rebuked by Jesus; 'Get thee behind me, Satan'. Our God is a God of the people, not in far off Jerusalem, but walking every day through the fields, and along the shores, of Galilee.

PIcture above: portrait of Saint Peter from the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls, Rome (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)