In today's Sunday Gospel (MT
16: 13-20) Jesus himself asks his disciples what do people say about
him, who is he according to the opinion of others? Of course, the disciples have
heard the rumors about Jesus. Jesus leaves no one indifferent. Everyone sees in
Jesus something that makes him different, special, and it can only occur to
them to compare him with someone from the past, someone they already know, and in
the end, everyone has made a mistake, Jesus is new, Jesus is bold, in Jesus
there is something completely new. Now, the question about who is He? He does
it to his disciples, those who have been closest to him. They should know him
better because they have direct experiences of Jesus, the disciples are the ones
who have been with him, have listened to him, have accompanied him, they are
the ones who have shared time with Jesus. Peter is ahead of the rest of the
disciples, and as by divine inspiration, Peter can recognize the novelty in
Jesus, Jesus is not one of the past, Jesus is completely different. Peter is
correct in saying that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. This
truth, this knowledge has been given to Peter by the Spirit of God himself, and
of course the time that Peter has been with Jesus. Jesus is not a stranger.
From Peter's confession of faith, Jesus will commission Peter to be the one to
care for the disciples. Jesus gives Peter authority, the same authority with
which He has been acting among them. Peter possesses the keys of the Church,
and with these keys he can open and close the gates of heaven. Today Jesus also
asks us, as he did then, who is he for each one of us? Hopefully life
experience and divine inspiration allow us to make a correct confession of
faith, for Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed, the One Sent by the Father, our
Lord and our Redeemer. Let us uphold this truth and give our testimony as Christians
before a world that often tries to confuse the truth that is in Jesus.
Fr.
Carlos Flores, OSA
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