Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Is 22, 19-23; Rm 11,33-36; Mt 16,13-20
Surveys and opinion polls are probably the most important tool for businesses and organisations nowadays. Companies depend on the result of these surveys to assess their performance and to plan ahead, changing their strategies if needed. Today Jesus seems to be doing the same thing. He asks the opinion of his disciples about who do they say that he is. However, Jesus is not devising a marketing strategy in order to increase his popularity. Rather, he asks them the question about who is he because he wants his disciples - and us - to reflect harder on who Jesus is for us, and because in doing so we also discover something new about who we are.
Not a "Who was Jesus?" trivia night
Throughout the Gospel we find people asking Jesus questions, especially the question, "Who are you?" And we demand an answer. Today, Jesus presents the question back to us. "Who do others say that I am," and then, again, "Who do
you say that I am?" I think of so many conversations that we sometimes have about Jesus at our workplaces, in our cafeterias. They usually aren't very deep conversations. They are usually based on opinion, and not on much reflection. Sometimes they are merely based on sensationalist documentaries their aim, obviously, is to increase viewership in order to have more commercials, and not to be of service to our faith! When Jesus asks us the question, "Who do you say that I am," he is not merely asking us to give the right answer. Rather, he is asking us, "What do I mean to you? What difference do I make in your life?" When I get to know who Jesus really is, I am transformed.
A question that would drive Siri crazy
Our scientific mindset has made us put everything under the microscope and behind the telescope. We want immediate answers for everything. We usually ask Google or Siri. Today Jesus is inviting us to look into ourselves. Who is Jesus for me, and what difference does he make in my life? It is interesting to note Paul's reflection on who is Jesus, and which we read in the second reading. He speaks of the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, about God being inscrutable and unsearchable. He has understood that he cannot simply define Jesus: the more he gets to know him, the more he realizes that there is more that he wants to get to know about Jesus.
The teologian down at the bakery's across the street
I learn so much from people who speak about Jesus with such intimacy. They need not be people of much education - very often they are not - yet it is very clear that they enjoy a deep relationship with Jesus. This is what Pope Francis calls popular piety, that is, people who have learnt their theology not in their brains at universities, but in their hearts, from what they have learnt through prayer, in the thick and thin of life.
A subversive Peter?
The location where this particular gospel takes place too can offer us a challenging insight into living this gospel in our lives. We must remember that
Caesarea of Philippi was a city in Judea where there was a magnificent temple dedicated to Emperor Caesar. It was in other words, a territory which fell under the jurisdiction of the Emperor, who, we recall, demanded to be honoured as God. Therefore, Peter's confession of faith, "You are the Christ, Son of the living God," and Jesus' affirmation was also an affirmation of the Lordship of Jesus as God having supreme power and authority. In our life we have so any other things which like the temple of the Emperor force their authority upon us. Think for a moment of the demands that work and productivity place on us, consumerism and the constant need to buy more and have more, the need to keep ourselves always entertained. Aren't these all forms of authority that illegitimately demand that we submit to them without any right to do so? Today, with St Peter, we shall repeat, "You are the Christ, Son of the living God!"
A church founded not on heritage but on steadfast faith
Finally, Peter, as the head of the Church replies in the name of each and every one of us. He answers sincerely, he is not trying to impress, and it is the fruit of faith. As a result, Jesus praises him for his genuine response but even more, he praises Peter for his steadfast faith, which is a gift coming from on high. It is here that Jesus founds the Church. Indeed, the Church is not merely founded on heritage or on culture but on the steadfast faith of his community. Just as Peter is the stone on which Jesus builds his Church, thanks to Peter's steadfast faith, may we too, have such a steadfast faith that we may be stones in the Church of Christ.
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