August 27, 2017: Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20)

Reflection

Have I ever pondered who Jesus really is for me? Do we too easily accept all we have been taught about Jesus, too easily recite the Creed each Sunday without thinking what those words really mean? It matters how I think about Jesus — is he a person in history or is he also someone who is as present to me in my heart as he was to his disciples? Is he a person who did marvelous deeds that we simply admire or is he someone we choose to follow and imitate?

Action

Spend some time this week allowing Jesus to speak to your heart, allowing him to reveal himself to you. It takes time to have a true relationship. It takes reflecting on his words and actions in Scripture, spending time with him in prayer, receiving him in the Eucharist. Jesus is always ready to reach out to us and to reveal himself and his love whenever we make the slightest effort to make him a part of our lives.