Mt.16: 13-20
The quality of our witness as followers of Jesus depends on ‘who is Jesus for us?’ Arch-Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was known for his great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Despite his hectic schedule, he used to spend a holy hour with the Blessed Sacrament. He stared the practice of this Holy Hour, influenced by the heroic story of a little girl from China. When the Communist regime overpowered China, slowly they started to close down the churches. There was this church in a small town. The parish priest was much appreciated and loved by his faithful. Once the soldiers came to the church and gathered all the faithful in the church, there was this little girl with her father, witnessed the barbarous deeds of the soldiers. The commander of the army forcefully opened the tabernacle, scattered the sacred species on the floor of the sanctuary, and asked his soldiers to desecrate it by stamping on the blessed species. In the end, he vehemently proclaimed that the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is a cooked up story made by priests. They sentenced the parish priest in the coal room which is situated in the church.
The little girl who was terrified by the profane deeds of the soldiers went back along with her father. The next morning parish priest heard the sound of someone opening the church gently. When he peeped through his door, he saw the little girl consuming the Blessed Sacrament with great devotion and spending time in deep contemplation and thanksgiving. Her love for the Blessed Sacrament inspired and gave strength for the priest to keep alive his faith and hope. She continued her heroic gesture of love without fail. Days were passed and one day while the little girl was already in the church, the priest heard the opening of the door by someone with a scream, followed by a gunshot. The soldier who found out the devotion of the little girl, short her at once. When the priest peeped through the door he saw the agonizing moments of the little girl. After some time, the priest was freed by the same soldier who killed the little girl. The priest ran to the sanctuary and saw the lifeless body of the little girl. The guilty soldier who killed the little girl told him: “if there is a little girl like her in every town of China, no one will fight for the communist…” Yes, she had an answer to the question, Who is Jesus for her?
Who is Jesus for you? Though it appears to be a simple question, we can’t answer this question so easily because we can’t give a convincing answer unless we experience Jesus in a personal manner. Today’s gospel presents to us a plot wherein Jesus asking this question to his disciples. Who do you say that I am? People have different answers such as Elijah, John the Baptist, one of the prophets, etc. However, no one would consider Jesus as the Messiah because his external appearance did not match with the Dravidic Messianic icon that they kept close to their heart. Jesus was neither interested in such royal appearances nor intended to establish an earthly kingdom. In this context, Jesus poses this question to his disciples. “Who do you say that I am?” Their answer matters for Jesus because they are the chosen community of new Israel.
Interestingly, only Peter answers this crucial question of their master. Why Peter? He was the eldest in the group and considered as the leader of the band of the apostles. Anyhow, Jesus makes him understand that it is not his human faculties that inspired him to confess the true identity of Jesus rather his Heavenly Father Himself. None of us can recognize the true identity of Jesus unless we are graced by our Heavenly Father.
The commissioning of Peter is an example of the predicative love of God. “You are Peter, on this rock I shall build my church…” he is no more the old fragile Simon, as his name indicated. Now, He is Peter, whom the Lord would transform as his rock. He would lead his church with authority to the extent of liberating them from the bondage of sin that Christ alone could do, would be handed over to him.
As we continue our faith journey let us thank God for choosing each one of us as his followers, we are drawn by the heavenly Father. Let us cooperate with God’s grace and acknowledge to the world that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, that his transformative grace may help us all of us to be a faithful witness of Christ Jesus.