“WHO DO PEOPLE SAY THAT I AM?” MK 8:27-33

Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary and Joseph.

Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”   MK 8:27-33

Today, Jesus reveals something about himself that no other religious leader ever reveals. Fr. Robert Barron, in his Catholicism video series, talks about the verses today in which Jesus asks, “Who do people say that I am?”  I am refers to our being, our make up.  ”I AM who AM” also refers to God or “Yahweh” in the Jewish Torah.  No other religious leader or founder asks a question about their ontological make up, or being.  Don’t forget this comes after Jesus has healed and cured many people and fed the 5,000.  Then, Jesus is frustrated because the Apostles still don’t see or hear the message He is sending.  Jesus is trying to show the Apostles and the world that He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God!  Today, Jesus comes right out and says it!
““Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.””

This is the identity of Jesus Christ.  The 2nd Person of the Trinity, human and divine, God made Man, Word made Flesh who dwells among us.  Jesus later goes on to say that He must die and rise after 3 days.  The reason this is so important is that Christian hope (Pope Francis catechized on this) is born in the resurrection.  Jesus either is who He says He is or He is a liar and a blasphemer.  If He is the latter, He has fooled the smartest and holiest people in the last 2,000 years. He rose from the dead to prove He is God and everything He taught us is Truth.  Truth can’t contradict itself according to St. Thomas Aquinas. He has the Words of everlasting life.

So what’s the point? We have to make a decision. If we believe and give up our life for Christ, we are saved. If we don’t, what do we believe is the truth? What is life really about? If you don’t believe in something, you will fall for everything. Today, Jesus gives us some solid knowledge to form ourselves and understand our Christian identity. Our religion is not a set of rules to follow, it is a Risen Person who is God to fall in love with. This God is madly in love with His creation, so much so that He sent His only Son to be the one Sacrifice for all, and stays with us in His Holy Spirit. As baptized believers, we are never alone. Jesus grafted Himself onto us and breathed His Holy Spirit onto us.

After you fall in love with this Man, you will come to know the Father’s love. You will ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in each moment of your day and before you read the Scriptures each day. You will be so overwhelmed with His presence that you will want to share it with everyone you come in contact with each day. It is like a fire inside of you, that you have to share. In your suffering, you will ask this Man to be with you and He will comfort you because He knows all about suffering. You will ask Mary and Joseph to pray and intercede on your behalf, because Jesus never turns down a request from His mother and foster father. There is no more difficult question in life and there is no greater reward. That is the adventure of striving for holiness in the Christian life!

Today’s challenge: We are made in God’s image and likeness.  The Divine became human, so the human could become divine.  Through our baptism in dying with Christ and rising with Him in new life we are born again to become holy and fight Satan.  Believe you have the power within you by Jesus Christ to fulfill your baptismal promises.  Dialogue with others about why you believe what you believe.

Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO