Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A - 23rd August 2020
Gospel Matthew 16: 13–20
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said, ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach
In the Gospel today, Jesus is putting some questions to his disciples. During these times, I may be coming to prayer with some questions of my own. I ask the Spirit to give me peace.
I may like to read and pray this Gospel imaginatively. By using my senses to place myself in the scene, I might be better able to encounter the Son of the living God. As I read the text, pondering the interactions between Jesus and the disciples, I note what is going on within me.
Peter is the first to acknowledge openly that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Perhaps I am touched by his honesty, his risk.
I might now imagine Jesus posing the same question to me.
How do I respond? How would I like to respond? I take my time.
I ponder who Jesus is for me ...
then, maybe I consider: who am I for him? Perhaps I can ask him directly. I wait for his response ...
Do I trust his choice of me; do I know him well enough to trust his promises?
Finally, I might feel drawn to recognise that Jesus is not someone I have to work out, but is one given by the Father. It is through revelation, God’s gift to me, that my happiness comes. I end with a slow sign of the cross.
Click here to read or listen to a one-minute homily on the Gospel!
No comments:
Post a Comment