Readings: Zec. 12:10-11; 13:1; Responsorial Psalm Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Gal. 3:26-29; Gospel Lk. 9:18-24.
Theme: Answering the Question of Faith!
Jesus' twofold question of "who do people say that I am" and "who do you say that I am" reveals the importance of the question "Who?" as one of the five "Ws" of journalism. The question is crucial to an in-depth knowledge of who Jesus was and re-awakening of faith. These questions illicit both intellectual and spiritual understanding of Jesus' messianic role. Except for the Maccabaean Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs which give evidence to the belief in a Messiah from the tribe of Levi as contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls, there was no single Messiah in Judaism.
The Jewish understanding of the one who would succeed David was a political icon capable of destroying their enemies and establishing an earthly empire. Jesus wanted to not only confirm what people knew about him but to gradually lead his disciples to a deeper level of faith as expressed by Peter in his confession.
Our first reading prepares us for the message of the gospel in that it says: "They shall look on him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son..." Jesus was going to jerusalem to suffer and die as such, Peter's profession of faith was necessity as a confirmation that he was the Messiah who would suffer to deliver his people.
The message is clear namely that:
1. Being aware that we are heirs of Abraham as the second reading suggests is necessary to helping us bear our crosses daily to follow Christ.
2. The promise of Abraham's heirs as fulfilled in Christ is not for the faint-hearted. 3. Following Jesus does not immune us from suffering, pain and even death. 4. The consolation that "whoever looses his life will find it" is an assurance that a place is secured for those who endure the the qualms of life.
One of the most profound theological interpretations about Jesus’ identity was given by Pope Saint John Paul II during World Youth Day of the Great Jubilee which took place on the night of August 19, 2000 at Tor Vergata, Rome. Dwelling on the question “Who do you say that I am?” the Holy Father reminded the young people that:
1. By that question, Jesus wanted his disciples to become aware of what is hidden in their own minds and hearts so as to give voice to their conviction.
2. He knew that the judgment they would express will not be theirs alone but for upcoming disciples as a way of revealing what God has poured into their hearts by the grace of faith.
3.The inter locution between Jesus and his disciples was the response of a rational and free human person to the word of the living God.
4. The questions that Jesus asks, the answers given by the Apostles, and finally by Simon Peter, are a kind of examination on the maturity of the faith of those who are closest to Christ. 5. It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
6. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.
7. You must realise that the various godless messianic systems that tried to take the place of Christian hope showed themselves to be truly horrendous.
8. Do not let yourselves be made into tools of violence and destruction; you will defend peace, paying the price in your person if need be.
9. You will not resign yourselves to a world where other human beings die of hunger, remain illiterate and have no work.
10. You will defend life at every moment of its development; you will strive with all your strength to make this earth ever more livable for all people.
Dearly beloved, we are called to patiently follow the royal road of the cross as we travel in this valley of tears. Jesus' question is still relevant today. "Who is he to you?" A miracle worker or suffering servant? Answering this question of faith is a moral absolute -
Have a great week ahead!
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