Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 23, 2020
When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
By now Peter has witnessed Jesus of Nazareth’s parables, sermons, feeding of the multitudes, calming a great storm, and healings of the blind, withered, ill, and ashamed.
Still, Jesus prompts his followers to answer who others think he is? Opinions from many people have surfaced and spread: teacher, wayfarer, friend, exciting new prophet, son of Joseph, lunatic, supernatural healer, threat, revolutionary. These points of view even remain alive 2000 years later.
Only Peter’s answer, understood through the eyes of faith and revealed by God into Peter’s heart, describes the full Truth of who Jesus is.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter’s blockbuster, courageous confession acknowledges Jesus as Christ, and in hearing it Christ declares his Church with Peter as its foundation. Peter’s life-giving profession begins a web of connection for all of us.
For me, in this strange, unbalanced, divided year of 2020, following Jesus the Christ connects my life back to Peter, all Jesus’ followers, and all sinners and saints up and down the ages. Being a believer in Christ stretches me across physical and philosophical separateness right now. We can never be irreparably broken as families, as a country, or as a planet, as long as we remain focused, faithful and connected to one another though the Son of God and his promises.
Last week we dropped our firstborn, first-year Domer to the second floor of Fisher Hall. To my student, and all students in the Notre Dame community, put Jesus’ question before you, intentionally and particularly, during your precious years of studying and living together.
“Who do you say that I am?”
Surrounded by the community that this university offers, you have a unique opportunity to look and listen deeply into the life and being of Christ. He will transform you and the lives of those you encounter. He will provide you daily with hope, meaning and peace beyond circumstance, right now in 2020 and for all time.
Prayer
Jesus our teacher, you challenged your disciples to know you more intimately, and so come to recognize you as the Christ. Help us never to be content with our knowledge of you, but always to desire to know and love you more. Bring our hearts to rejoice in Peter’s confession that “You are the Christ”—our salvation and the fulfillment of our lives. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Rose of Lima was given the name Isabel when she was born in Peru in 1586. She was such a beautiful baby, however, that people could not help calling her Rose.
Her beauty grew as she aged, and she became the subject of much admiration. She decided to devote herself fully to Jesus, however, and the admiration became a distraction to her. She feared her beauty would distract others as well, so she would rub crushed pepper on her face to produce rashes and blisters.
Her devotion led her to take on severe mortifications, but she was devoted to those around her with similar intensity. When her parents fell into poverty, she worked to grow food in their garden and took on sewing jobs at night. She dedicated a room in her family’s home to care for orphans and the poor.
She wanted to enter a convent, but her parents would not give her permission because they wanted her to marry. She was obedient to her parents and did not join a convent. She did convince them of her vow of virginity, however—she clung to her single-hearted devotion to Christ and remained at home for her whole life, giving herself to prayer and good works. (She became a third-order Dominican, meaning that she took on the spirituality of the Dominicans as a private lay person.)
She is the patron of the Americas, the Philippines, and of florists. She is depicted, among other places, in a mural and in a window in the Basilica, wearing a crown of roses, and a number of her relics are kept in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Rose of Lima, your beauty transcended your body as you stubbornly sought holiness—pray for us!
To learn even more about Saint Rose of Lima, watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.