22nd Sunday Ordinary Time September 3m 2023

Readings: Jeremiah 20:7-9, Romans 12:1-2, Matthew 16:21-27

Peter was very open to Jesus as the Christ as he saw the role of the Christ but he wasn’t ready for Jesus to be the Christ that God willed.  He would need time and grace for that.  “Jesus wanted His apostles, as one priest said, “to think for themselves, to form their personal convictions. This process, of course, would be helped by grace. Peter, as the spokesman of the group, professed his faith in Jesus. ‘You are the Christ the Son of the living God,’ in other words, ‘you are the Messiah, the promised Redeemer, the One sent by God to redeem us.’”

For William Barclay, he interpreted Peter’s response by pointing out how Peter’s discovery was that: human categories alone were inadequate to identify Jesus. His public image as carpenter, teacher, faith healer, prophet and leader all failed to measure up to the true meaning of who He was.

All this is history now and yet the question Jesus asked His disciples continue to exist even up to the present life and is not an isolated question. We are also asked by the same question: “Who is Jesus for you and for me? It is a personal question that demands from us a personal response. It is a critical question that calls us to commitment. Your image of Jesus will identify you on how you relate and deal with other people.

For me if I am asked by the same question: My answer would not only be that He is the “Messiah, the Son of the living God,” but also that He is a friend of mine, an older brother, who is the Son of God. He is my friend in the sense that I can confide in Him my dark secrets without being laughed at; He laughs at my joke even if it is terrible and unlaughable; He knows about me but still like me; He is the person in a hundred who I can trust all the times; He likes, loves and usually cares about me.