21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 27, 2023

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Who is Jesus for me, and how does Jesus impact my life?

Matthew 16:13–20

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi 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 Messiah, 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 Messiah.

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Adapted from “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits

You put the same question to me, Lord: Who do you say that I am? As I pray about your question, your own words echo in me: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. In times of trouble for me and for the world around me, let your promise, and my faith in that promise sustain me O Lord.

Companions for the Journey

From Jude Siciliano, O.P., in “First Impressions,” a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

When Jesus asked Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” he wasn’t asking Peter to recite a series of doctrines about his identity. He wasn’t inviting him to recite the Nicene Creed we recite at Sunday Mass. That would come later when the Christian community had to address questions that had developed among its communities and when church teaching was challenged in the new lands where it had spread. The creeds and formulas would be necessary—but later. No, Jesus was not asking Peter to work out a christological formula. That’s clear from the beginning of the question, “But you...?” Jesus was inviting Peter to express his own faith. Does he believe in Jesus and what does he believe about Jesus? From his experience of Jesus and through the gift of God’s grace, Peter has come to know that Jesus is the revelation of God to the world. He articulates what the church has come to believe about Christ. The articles of that faith will be developed and taught to inquirers: but first comes Peter, expressing his faith and the faith of the first generation Christians.

Other followers of Christ will have to answer the same question and pass on that faith to their children and those to whom they preach. They will announce to anyone who will listen—who Jesus is and what difference he made in their lives. The creeds will emerge, but the teachings will have little meaning if people have not, in one way or another, answered the question Jesus asks us today, “But who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus isn’t just asking us if we go to church on Sunday; if we send our children to religious education classes or say grace before meals. First of all, he invites us to acknowledge our belief in him and to bear witness to his love and manner of living in the world.

Those who know us usually can detect our preferences. If we say we are big Atlanta Braves fans but never watch a game, wear a team insignia or know who plays first base—people will begin to wonder. If we say we love to read, but all we talk about at social gatherings are the evening TV shows and soaps—people will begin to wonder. If we say we are very concerned about the environment, but never recycle, drive a gas guzzler and keep all the lights on in our homes—people will begin to wonder. If we say we are Christians, yet there is little that signifies Jesus has made any difference in our lives—people will begin to wonder. If we insist our children must go to church with us, but at home they hear us use racial slurs, utter stereotypical comments about the poor and immigrants and gossip about people in our church—our children will begin to wonder: “Are my parents (grandparents, uncles or aunts) really Christians, or do they just go to church?” “But who do you say I am?” Jesus asks us today. What response to the question does our life reveal to those observers around us?

Jesus’ question isn’t just asked of us as individuals. It is posed to our church as well. If our Christian community fits comfortably into the society around it; never raises an objection to public discriminatory policies; never speaks up to represent those who have little power or no voice; welcomes only those who look and act like the established members; is more fussy about ritual and decorum and less concerned about newcomers and how to welcome them and incorporate them into our community and its rituals, then when Jesus asks us, “Church, who do you say that I am?” in reality our answer is, “You are an admirable leader and teacher and a good role model—and that’s it.”

Peter voiced the faith the early church had in Jesus. It was to be the message they proclaimed, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Those who accepted that message professed their faith in God’s unique presence and revelation manifested in Christ. In accepting Jesus as “the Son of the living God,” and receiving the grace God offered them in Christ, they agreed to change their ways. Jesus was more than a role model for believers. In him God offered humanity the grace to live Christ's life of love and service—especially to serve those Jesus served, the least in the eyes of society.

In response to Jesus’ initial question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Peter responds, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” People may have had differing opinions, but they seem to have agree that they saw Jesus in the line of the great prophets. His words and life had revealed to them that he must be speaking with the authority of God. High praise indeed! But Jesus disregards those opinions and asks the question more directly to his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”

The faith Peter and the disciples come to profess in Christ should not be kept to themselves. They must not form a secretive and isolated sect that will strive to avoid contamination from the world. Quite the opposite. Peter speaks the faith of the post-resurrection church. This is the faith Jesus will send them out to proclaim. Peter will bear the keys, like Eliakim in our first reading, who carried “the key of the House of David.” Peter will have the mission of stewardship to lead the early church by his preaching, teaching, example and his ultimate martyrdom. Peter’s faith will be accepted by many and those who profess it will be strengthened as they face persecution; the long wait for Jesus’ return; internal conflicts that would shake the church to its foundation, and pastoral disputes. Peter and the disciples will be instructed to do as Jesus did for them; to be a servant church and wash the feet of others. Their task will be to lead others to accept Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and to sustain and serve the community as its members attempt to live out the faith in the One they profess.

Jesus said he would build his church on rock. Sometimes it feels that the church is less on rock and more on sand. We have all sorts of divisions that distract our energies and create an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust. It doesn’t feel like a rock-solid church, does it? A quick survey of our history reminds us that we aren’t going through anything those before us didn’t also go through in one way or another. From the very beginning we have had both saints and sinners among our popes, bishops, priests, religious and laity. At times it is very discouraging. At those low moments, when we feel our dreams and ideals are under siege, we might want to repeat as a mantra what Jesus promised, “...the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it.”

We give praise today that, despite our less-than-stellar performance as the people of God, Christ has not abandoned us. We can praise God today for the prophetic leaders we have had in our past and have today who: speak out against war and the death penalty; defend all life; protect the rights of those displaced by famine and civil war; provide shelter for the homeless and abused, etc. In our church, while there are signs of our shaky faith, there are also ample reminders that Christ is very much with his church. Just as he promised he would be.

Further reading:

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Who do YOU say that I am?

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Has anyone ever asked you for an opinion on something and you at first responded with what the world suggests, or with what authorities are recommending?
    Why was it hard to state your own opinion?
  • Like the disciples in this story, we tend to undervalue “heroes” from our own present time in favor of those from times past. Who are my “heroes”?
  • Jesus asks about what others say, but he is really interested in what Peter has to say:
    What does my current culture say about Jesus?
    What does the Church say about Jesus?
    What do I say when Jesus asks me the question in my heart?
    What is Jesus to me?
    How difficult is it for me to rely on my own relationship with Jesus to answer these questions?
    How do I live out my answer?
  • Belief is expressed not only in words, but in behavior. What do I believe about Jesus?
    What do my actions and attitudes say about what I believe?
  • In the text there are many opinions concerning Jesus and several ways of expressing faith. Today, also there are many diverse opinions concerning Jesus. Which are the opinions of our own CC@S community concerning Jesus?
  • In this synodal year, we are called to reflect and act on what we as a community believe Jesus stands for.
    What mission results for us from this?
  • What qualities might Jesus see in me?
    What title might he give me?
    Will it take time for me to grow into his mission?
  • Recall a time when you were entrusted with a serious responsibility. How did you feel?
  • A biblical scholar said, “The ‘Rock’ is not Peter; it is Peter’s faith” on which Jesus built his Church. What do you think this means?
  • From Daniel J Harrington, S.J.:
    What ironies are involved in Jesus’ calling Simon the “rock”?
    When and how did Peter become the rock on which the church is built?
    Is it because of his strengths or because of his weaknesses, or both?
  • Peter was given power and authority. How do you interpret that power in practical terms?
    What are the downsides of that power?
  • In what ways have the successors of Peter lived out the imperative given by Jesus?
    Who is your favorite pope? Why? Had he made mistakes?
    Who is your least favorite pope? Why? Had he made mistakes?
  • What do you consider the authority of the Catholic Church concerning sin and forgiveness?
  • Someone else cannot answer life’s critical questions for us. Have I ever abdicated my own responsibility for formulating answers for myself—in other words, have I relied too excessively on religious or civil authorities, on “experts” or on friends and relatives?
    How have I made use of the advice or guidance others have given me and how has that advice impacted my decision making?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Only in Matthew’s Gospel is the word “ekklesia” found. It literally means the “called-out gathering.” The “called community” was formed by the earthly Jesus to continue his work. The “ekklesia” focuses on Jesus’ identity and authority, not on Peter’s. The church is not simply about a future world, but about being signs of the kingdom’s presence here and now. As Jesus proclaimed, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?”  will define who I am; how I live; what I do; whom I become in my life.” I take some time to answer carefully this very question Jesus was asking of his disciples.

Our individual responses to Jesus’ question will, of course, bind us more profoundly to Him. They will, in turn, bind us more closely to one another so that we will not only give an individual, but also a communal witness to Christ – for we are the “ekklesia,” “the called out gathering,” called to effectively impact our world, so that others might be stirred to ask us important questions too, like: “Who do you say Jesus is?” “What does he mean to you?” How would I or my church answer them?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/ Imagination:

From “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Suppose that Jesus suddenly put his question to me in my prayer today, what would I say? Let me be honest with him, no matter if I feel ashamed of what I come up with. Jesus reads my heart long before I speak. Perhaps he then invited me to chat with Peter, who got the formula right in this scene, but in other places tries to argue Jesus out of his passion, making Jesus so angry as to call him ‘Satan’. Peter also in a little while will deny that he even knows Jesus! But Lord, let me see that Peter’s weakness is the making of him: he finally learns not to trust in himself but in you alone. After the resurrection when you question him, he is honest in saying; You know that I love you’. And that is enough.

Let his example help me to learn your forgiving love through my weaknesses and let me love you ever more deeply…

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions

From “Faith Book”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Peter got it right. Jesus is the Messiah, the one who had come to liberate not only those enslaved by Rome, but all who are poor and oppressed. His liberating power was handed on to Peter and his companions and is our responsibility today. We are to loose those who are bound and to bind the powers of those who threaten the freedom of God’s children in any way.

So we ask ourselves:
What do I need to ask Jesus to liberate me from?
How can I help another experience a similar liberation?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Not just Peter, but all of those disciples were the early church. I am not just a follower of the Church, I am Church. Do I speak and serve in love? Do I reflect the face of Christ to others? I plan one or two ways this week to proclaim Christ to a loved one. I plan one or two ways this week to serve a stranger in Christ’s name. I make a resolution to follow through on my plans.

Poetic Reflection:

How does the following poem from the Rev. Ed Ingebretsen, S.J. illustrate the difficulty of responding to the question “Who do You say that I am”?

“Lonely Christ”

Lonely Christ
I pray to you.
You are a puzzle to me
as those I love
always are.

My soul is at odds
with the words.
What mad reach of mine
touches any thread of you?
Or what of mine, arms or eyes,
ever shares with people
where they may lie—
as they always do—
in a hard place!

What of mine shall make good
their taking of a breath,
their rising, caring, feeding
their sleeping in fear—
what shall make good
their slight faith,
their enormous promises
made in iron
for a child, man, a woman—

what of mine shall be with the people
as they caress a special grief
fondled again and again
In bludgeoned love?

What do I bring
with which to clutch
the merest hint of your shadow?

Closing Prayer

(Found on the internet for the feast of St John Chrysostom)

Holy Father, send Your Divine Enlightener into the hearts of all Your faithful, filling us with the strength to fulfil our mission as the followers of the Chair of St Peter. And most of all, we pray Lord Holy God, to inspire and light the way of our Holy Father, Francis. Sustain and guide him, keep him in health and strength, to lead Your people by the Light of the Way and the Truth. Holy Father, have mercy on us, Holy Spirit guide and lead us, Lord Jesus Christ be our intercessor and teacher, amen.