[__01__] In the Gospel this Sunday – on the Feast of
Saints Peter and Paul – Peter answers the question first, puts the ball in the
goal first … before all others .. and before the clock runs out.
Has he simply
worked harder, practiced longer hours, to reach this point, to excel beyond the
other apostles?
On the one
hand, St. Paul
“For I am already on the
point of being sacrificed, the time of my departure has come. I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
[__02__] Effort
is important also, because this shows the connection between our faith and our
works…our love for God and our love of neighbor. We are called to do both, as we read in the
letter of St. James:
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says
he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep
warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what
good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James
2:14-17)
[__03__] Peter the Apostle had, at this moment, both
faith and works. He believes in God and he is able to communicate and express our
faith in Jesus Christ and the Church.
The other
students – the apostles – were providing incomplete answers, repeating what
they had heard other people say about Jesus. But, they could not yet say for
themselves.
Peter –
currently in the top percentile intellectually and religiously among the
apostles – offered a correct answer to our Savior’s question, “who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)
[__04__] Yet,
Peter – star student is also cautioned about his report card and GPA …
“flesh and blood has not
revealed this to you but my heavenly Father ” (Matthew 16:17)
In other words,
Peter is being told that he did not come this conclusion entirely on his own,
by his own study, by long hours of practice, or an all-nighter in the library.
[__05__] This
gift of knowledge and of wisdom came
from God.
Being asked,
“who do you say
that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)
… you and are also being asked about the priority or weight we give to God’s
influence – God’s inspiration in our lives.
For example,
can you and I figure it all out on our own … to figure out how to live our
vocation or how to face and talk to a difficult person… whether we are in a
situation say… of …
- Marriage
- Family / mother /
father / parent
- Being a parish priest
- Being a religious
sister
Wisdom is a
gift available to all of us, in decisions that may seem very small or very
large… For God, we say nothing is impossible… or we might say, no job is too
small to be unimportant.
[__05.01__] The Lord is asking us – can we make sacrifices
or choose the honest path simply because we know that this is God’s command,
God’s priority, God’s ideal …
He calls us
to strive for perfection, to strive for goodness, even if we feel tired, alone,
scared…
As St. Paul
[__06__] This gift of forgiveness and mercy also come
from God.
Being asked,
“who do you say
that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)
… you and I are also asked if we recognize that the Christian life is not only
about mercy but also about justice.
Yes, the gift
of mercy is the reason for the sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood for our
sins. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He has mercy
on us.
Yet, he is
also inviting us to reform our lives, to open to his invitation, to his plan,
to his schedule, to his teaching… for we also are his students, his disciples
being asked the question,
“who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)
[__fin__]
[1]
“For I am already on the point
of being sacrificed, the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
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