Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 5, 2021
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
and he 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.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Perhaps the most first thing that is noticeable from this passage is Jesus’ question about who he is, but the story continues with something more to consider. Jesus commends Simon for his faith and promises Simon “the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.” What greater sign of love and trust could Jesus have shown? However, just five verses later, Jesus calls Simon Peter “Satan” and rebukes him for being an “obstacle” to God’s plan. How can Jesus say such a thing to the man with whom he has entrusted his church?
Simon’s actions can be likened to parents who want to prevent their child from hurting or to the spouse who would do anything for their partner’s wellbeing. Reacting as Simon Peter did to the thought of Jesus’ suffering is something we can all relate to and have all probably done. Conversely, there are times where we may find ourselves in the role of Jesus: needing to assure those around us that we must face the obstacles and difficulties that lie ahead.
As we think about our lives now, are we currently more in the role of Jesus or Simon? If we are the worrying Simon, we pray for acceptance of God’s plan, even when we cannot fully understand it and when a loved one’s suffering brings us pain, too. If we are more like Jesus, we can at least take comfort that God will never give us a cross we cannot bear. We pray for the wisdom to learn from our struggles and to trust that God can transform them into something fruitful.
Regardless of where we find ourselves right now, we pray often for guidance. When I was a student, I found that talking to Mary at the Grotto was my guiding light during final exams, bouts of homesickness, and even the unexpected death of an uncle. Jesus overcame death for us; we can overcome anything if we trust in him.
Prayer
May the risen Christ help us to see through His eyes rather than with our limited vision. May we forgive as He forgave, call ourselves and others to transformative repentance, and give thanks for the graces that allow us to live His life here on earth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Rome is home to the four most important church buildings in Catholicism. The first is St. Peter’s Basilica, located in the Vatican. The other three are the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where the Pope serves as bishop of Rome; the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which houses the tomb of the apostle Paul; and the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
The Church honors these four churches in the liturgical year because they are pilgrimage sites and they connect all the faithful with the Pope and the universal Church. The Basilica of St. Mary Major is so called because it is the oldest church dedicated to God in honor of Mary. It serves the Church as the oldest Marian shrine for pilgrims.
The origins of this Basilica are wrapped in legend. Two Roman Christians, a Roman official named John and his wife, received a vision from Mary in 358. They were childless and wanted to dedicate their estate to Mary, so they prayed to her for a sign as to how this should be done. She appeared to them both in dreams and told them that a prominent hill in the city would be covered with snow, and this is where they should build a church.
John immediately told the Pope, who had the same dream, and they went to the hill to find it covered in snow on this date, during the hottest time of the year. The pope then walked through the snow to mark out the outline of the church that was to be built there.
This story probably cannot be trusted, but it is the origin of one of Mary’s titles, Our Lady of the Snow. The church building was originally the palace of a prominent family before being transformed into a church in the 300s. Later it was restored and consecrated to Mary after the Council of Ephesus in 432, where the Church came to understand and proclaim Mary as the Mother of God. It was decorated with artwork depicting Mary and Jesus, and a relic from the manger in Bethlehem was used in a reconstruction of the nativity there.
On this feast day in the Basilica in Rome, flower petals are dropped from the ceiling to recall the legend of Our Lady of the Snow. The Basilica of St. Mary Major is also the site of an important commemoration of Christmas in Rome because of its famous nativity scene.
Notre Dame’s own Basilica of the Sacred Heart contains relics from the nativity as well—pieces of the manger that held Jesus, and parts of the cloth in which he was swaddled.
On this feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, let us honor Mary as the Mother of God!
Image Credit: Our featured image of the Basilica of Mary Major is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed March 28, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
