When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
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.”
The Gospel is loaded today. First, Jesus asks, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”, then He asks, “But who do you say that I am?” This the question He asks every one of us. How well do you know Jesus. The first line of the Catholic Catechism is the purpose of life. TO KNOW, love, and serve God, do His Will, and return to Him (Become a saint). How well do you know Jesus? You can find Him in your heart (silence every day with Him), in Adoration, in the Eucharist, praying with others, in others and in the Scriptures.
Next, God reveals to us through St. Peter (Chair of St. Peter feast day today) who Jesus is. How many times does Jesus have to just come out and say it, “I AM THE CHOSEN ONE OF GOD, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, THE LONG AWAITED MESSIAH”. Peter says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Take some time to reflect on that today. Either He is who He says He is or He is a phony, a false prophet, the craziest man to ever walk the earth and claim to be God. The resurrection proves He is who He says He is. Find out who Jesus is by finding out who you are.
Next, the revealed teaching of Jesus Christ that we are to have a pope and that pope will have authority over the Church. Many people including non-Catholic Christians do not believe in the power of the papacy. Who do you want to follow? The teachings of Jesus or someone who interpreted the teachings of Jesus to mean something different. So far Jesus has been right on (duh), the gates of the netherworld have not prevailed against the Church. The Catholic Church is the longest standing institution on the face of the planet. The Devil, government leaders, the Church within, nothing has stopped the spread of the Catholic Church (though it has suffered much persecution-are you willing to suffer for it?). Watch, listen, or read about Pope Francis each week. He has been chosen to lead us as Christ Vicar on earth.
Today’s challenge: Get TO KNOW Christ in your life, spend time with Him every day. Believe, have faith, Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world-dedicate your life to Him, spend time learning from the pope (instead of some of the other garbage we read).
Become a saint!
Christian YOLO
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