Today's Gospel happened to be part of one of the FaithICS passages that I worked with this past summer, and one that we used during our opening retreat on Monday August 11:
Gospel MT 16:13-20
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi andhe asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples
to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Furthermore, the concept expressed at the end of this passage was another that providentially crossed my desk this summer - "tell no one that he was the Christ."
Hearing these messages again, especially in such a short amount of time, leads me to believe that God wants me to hear them again. So, even though repetition can aid in memorization, I moved beyond my own reflections and went in search of another's thoughts.
Enter Mark Hart, formerly known as the Bible Geek, and a short insight into this weekend's readings:
Jesus didn't come to write a Bible, He came to build a Church. Additionally, He uses imperfect people, like Peter, and transforms them into the rocks upon which this Church has been and is continuing to be built. Like Peter, Jesus is calling us, the Faculty and Staff of Incarnation Catholic School, a group of imperfect people, to continue to build His Church here on earth. While empowering us to be rocks, He also galvanizes us to withstand even the gates of the netherworld.
As the honeymoon of the new school year slowly fades into the reality of the daily commitment of a relationship, let us continue to focus on Jesus and let us continue to lean on Him and turn to Him and be fed and led by Him. Let us rise up and proclaim in both word and deed as Peter did, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."
Evangelize. Catechize. Educate.
Go: Teach.
