Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mt 16: 13-20
August 27, 2023 | Sunday

Today’s Gospel

After that, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them, you are John the Baptist; for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And now I say to you: You are Peter; and on this Rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Today’s Reflection:

Jesus’ honest and direct questions to His apostles are twofold: one scrutinizes their knowledge about Jesus from other people while the second tries to personally engage them with how they know Jesus cordially. The essence of these questions still applies at present. We heard about Jesus from other people-from our parents, family, teachers, catechists, friends, and even nonbelievers. They constitute a great part of our very own concept of Jesus. At times, we nonchalantly base our faith’s content with their conviction which frequently reveals the disconnect from our faith experience. We must remember that what matters most is how have we received the faith and how we own it through our personal experience of Jesus in our lives. The faith of others can edify us but we cannot enrich our faith by being eclectic with others’ ideas about God. Rather, it should help us point to the value of our faith. After all, we have our own experience of Jesus in our lives.  ./Vulnerasti, 2023