My
Personal Reflection for this Sunday
21st
Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Readings:
Isaiah 22:19-23; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16: 13-20)
“A
New Name.”
I could imagine the Lord walking the
streets of Caesarea Philippi and speaking with the disciples. The Lord was asking his disciples who the
people think he was. As humans we put a
premium on our identities because it is the only one that separates us from the
others. But sometimes our perceptions of
others are not as perfect as it should be.
We identify ourselves and the others based on our perceptions. That is why in our reading for this Sunday we
saw Jesus asking his disciples about what others say about him. Of all these discussions Simon the son of
Barjona got the right answer. Simon said
to Jesus: “YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.” Thereby Jesus blest Simon and Jesus gave him
a new name. From now on Simon shall be
called Peter (Petrus in Latin means Rock).
And upon this rock, Christ said, “I will build my church and the
netherworld [or death] shall not prevail against it. And I give you the keys to
the Kingdom of Heaven, whosoever, you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven
and whosoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” What a profound declaration from our Lord
Jesus Christ. Jesus said it was not human wisdom or knowledge that revealed
this to him but it was God himself, the one we call Heavenly Father who
revealed this to Simon Peter.
For indeed, apart from God we can do
nothing. Have you we given this a
thought that Jesus during his ministry on earth called people who were not
educated but simple fishermen. Simon
Peter was fisherman. He was practically
an ignorant man whose daily occupation was to catch fish in order to live day
after day. But when Christ saw him he
called him and said that from now on you will no longer catch fish but you will
be gathering men and women. To cut the
story short, Simon Peter became the leader of the Church, he became the first
Bishop of Rome and together with St. Paul the apostle to the gentiles, they
founded the Church of Rome. And today we
are happy to be members of the Roman Catholic Church because we know that we
have this connection with the apostles.
For we are built on that rock.
For as long we remain steadfast in our faith we shall received what the
Lord has promised to us. The way to
salvation is not easy. In fact it is a
narrow way filled with persecutions and self-denial. For here we seek not a permanent city but we
look forward and seek a city and a kingdom not built by men but by God. And with this short reflection I would like
to close this with a quote from the scriptures: [Jesus said] “He, that hath an
ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches : to him that
overcometh, to him will I give the hidden manna, and will give him a white
counter, and in the counter, a new name written, which no man knoweth, but he
that receiveth it.” Revelations 2:17 (Douay-Rheims Version).
Happy Sunday to everyone.
