God's Word for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time A

But you, Jesus said, who you say I am.

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Isaiah 22:19-23, Psalm 137:1-3.6.8. Rv.8, Romans 11:33-36,

He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Your love, O Lord, is eternal, discard not the work of your hands.

How impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods.

Matthew 16:13-20.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of man is?'

14 And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'

15 'But you,' he said, 'who do you say I am?'

16 Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

17 Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

18 So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it.

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'

20 Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to say to anyone that he was the Christ.

Do you know Him or know about Him?

We have come to a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. He doesn’t have much time left. Have the disciples understood who he is? They will shortly have to carry on his entire mission because the chief priests will remove him from the scene by death. They have travelled around the villages and Jesus has preached and healed the sick and freed those in the hands of Satan. What impression has he made on people? Some say you are John the Baptism, others Elijah, and others, again, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Jesus must have acted and preached like these great men. But the answer is disappointing. They have misunderstood him. Then he asks his apostles and Peter speaking for them all says, ‘You are the Christ the Son of the Living God’. The disciples have realized the essential nature of Jesus, yet they do not understand what it means to be the Messiah. From now onwards Jesus will teach them.

Jesus asks us ‘who do you say I am?’ It is the crucial question. Who is Jesus for you? Only you can answer that. Have you penetrated the heart of Jesus? ‘Come to me all who labour and are overburdened.’   ‘The Son of Man has come not to be served but to serve’. ‘He began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel’. ‘I do not call you servants any more, but friends’. ‘Jesus felt pity for him’. ‘We do not have a high priest who cannot feel compassion for our weaknesses’. ‘I have come to search and save the lost’. ‘I stand at the door and knock’. ‘I will show you the bride of the Lamb’

            Can you say? Lord, you are my life. ‘For me life means Christ and death is gain’. ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me’. Have you met Jesus like Paul met him on the road to Damascus? Have you realized that he loved you and gave his life on the Cross for you? We can meet Christ Jesus today. We meet him in prayer both in the secrecy of our room and in the community of other believers. But we will never be able to answer his question with satisfaction to Him or to ourselves until Jesus has become a real person whom we know and meet daily. Until we have fallen in love with Jesus we will be outsiders.  It is not knowledge of Jesus, be it catechism or theology that counts, but experience. Experience of Jesus is the fruit of prayer.

Father, give me the gift to daily spend time in the presence of Jesus and so become his friend and disciple.