Friends,
the Gospel for today is incomparably rich and mysterious. First, we
notice that peculiar question, "Who do people say that I am?" No other
religious figure or founder would ask such a question. This is the
primordial and peculiar question of the Christian faith. It has to do
with Jesus and who he is.
The
first group that "responds" is the general public: "Some say John the
Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets." A range of
opinions—and all of them wrong.
Then that devastating question: "But who do you say that I am?" You who are closest to me,
you whom I have chosen. But the disciples don’t speak. Are they afraid? Perhaps. Are they ignorant? Probably.
Finally Simon Peter speaks: "You are the Messiah." You are the Messhiach,
the anointed, the long-awaited Savior, but more to it, as
Peter says in other Gospels, you are the Son of God, not just a human
hero. This is the mystical faith that stands at the heart of
Christianity. This is the standing or falling point. To hold this
Petrine faith is to be a Christian; to deny it is not to be a Christian.
Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 453
There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every thing under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
What advantage has the worker from his toil?
I have considered the task that God has appointed
for the sons of men to be busied about.
He has made everything appropriate to its time,
and has put the timeless into their hearts,
without man's ever discovering,
from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'"
Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Peter said in reply, "The Christ of God."
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised."
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