“But who do you say that I am?” February 22

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle

Tend the flock of God in your midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. 1 Peter 2:2

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Psalm 23:1

“But who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15

Piety

Let us pray: Jesus, help us to get to know you better. As we get closer to you, we will be able to answer that question, “Who are you?” Carpenter, Messiah, Savior, Son of God, Brother, Counselor, Friend. Send your Advocate to inspire our prayer, our study and our work throughout this Lenten season and beyond. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/022207.shtml

“Who do YOU say that I am?”

God has already revealed his son twice at the Baptism and the Transfiguration. So, when Peter tells Jesus that he is the Messiah, is Peter just re-stating the obvious here?

Absolutely not. When Jesus was baptized, Matthew has not yet reported that Simon had been called to leave his fishing boats behind to follow Jesus. Matthew gives us no clues or evidence that Simon Peter was in the crowd at the Jordan River that day when John the Baptist allowed Jesus Baptism to fulfill the Word, the heavens opened, and God revealed, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

There was no media in the day to spread this news. There were no books, newspapers, talk shows or magazine – not even an Arlington Catholic Herald or the National Catholic Reporter to spread the news. Today, more people learn faster about Brittany cutting her hair than learned of Jesus’ baptism when it occurred. The call in Matthew, chapter 4, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” does not take place until AFTER the baptism (Matthew 3). So Simon missed that revelation from the first time the voice of God revealed the Messiah.

However, Simon Peter was there at the Transfiguration. So, is he just reporting back to the Lord what he witnessed on top of the mountain? No once again. Matthews’s account of the Transfiguration does not come out until chapter 17 – but Simon’s witness is reported in Chapter 16. Jesus repays the faith of His disciples by inviting them to witness the scene on the mountaintop with Moses and Elijah when God says, “This is my beloved son. Listen to him.”

So Simon has knowledge that Jesus is the Messiah independently of these two critical revelations from God directly. He missed the first time and the second occurrence had not yet happened. Jesus explains that Simon did not learn of this from humanity. If he didn’t learn it from humans (“flesh and blood”), and he did not learn it through a special event, then Jesus explains that this knowledge was inspiration revealed by God.

Action

All of us will be called to account for our relationship with Jesus. Are you ready to answer two questions from Jesus?

Who do you say that I am?

Upon what rock does Jesus ask you to build his Church?

Many people identify Jesus with the image of as Good Shepherd and the guardian of your soul. The familiar shepherd and flock figures express the care, vigilance, and love of God for his people in the Old Testament. The shepherd tends to his flock, sleeps out under the stars.

But Jesus does not want us to be passive lambs accepting care. He wants us to be the shepherds now, "tending the flock." This Lenten season, he once again calls us to be ambassadors of Christ, builders of His Church. He wants us to go out into the world and repay him for his care, tenderness, and love by carrying on His mission to love the world and save us from sin.

Consider taking your role as “ambassador” literally. Just as our diplomats fan out from Washington around the globe, maybe you are asked to help build up the church at a sister parish in another country -- in Central America, Asia, Africa or Haiti.

Does your parish have such a program? If it does, can you make a sacrificial gift to support that work during this 2007 Lenten season? If not, why not find out more about how your parish can twin up with a church elsewhere in the world and touch people in ways they will never know…