The WORD today reminds me to examine who God is in my life.
Parents
are very fond of their children, especially babies. And as they start to talk,
parents love to ask their children to say their name. Daddy. Mommy. Papa. Mama.
They love to hear their children calling their name. They love the fact that
their children know who they are. This is probably what God wants from us as
his children.
The
gospel shows us Jesus asking the disciples the question: Who am I to you? He asked them who other
people said he was, but it was really not important to Jesus. What matters to him is who his disciples saw him for.
Who he is to his disciples. Peter proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ of God.
Jesus then affirmed it, and reminded them that even though he is such, he will
have to suffer in the hands of people – telling them that they would suffer too
as his followers, but with the assurance of victory when Jesus told them he
will be raised on the third day.
Today,
God is asking us the same question: Who
am I to you? It does not matter what other people say Jesus
is. It does not matter what sins we have committed in the past. It does not
matter what we intend to do in our lives. What
matters for Christ is our answer to his question. And we can only
say he is our God if we have an intimate
and personal relationship with him. if we don’t pray, if we
don’t hear mass and take the sacraments, if we don’t read the bible, if we
don’t experience Jesus, we cannot honestly say that he is our God. Probably we
can say that other people say he is, or other people say he is a great and
loving God, but unless we build an intimate relationship with Him, we cannot
say the same.
We
are challenged today.
Proclaiming
who Jesus is for us is not a one time decision. we cannot just say he is our
God and forget about it. We need to
constantly work on our relationship with God. We need to constantly
be conscious of how we live our lives. Our relationship with God today will not
automatically extend until forever. We need to do our part. Otherwise, we may
be like Peter who one moment proclaimed who Jesus was, and the other referred
to as satan by Jesus because he was not willing to submit to God's plans.
Who
is Jesus to you? Who is Jesus in your life? Do you put Him first in your life?
Do you believe that He is the all loving, all merciful, all powerful God? Do
you believe that He can work great things to and through you? Do you work on
your relationship with God? Do you do it constantly?
May
we find it in our hearts to answer him like Peter did – that he is Christ the
God, that he is God in our lives. May we work to have an intimate and personal
relationship with Him, and work harder to maintain and grow it.
Father God,
Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live.
Thank you for the reminder and challenge. I praise and adore you for who you
are. Lord, I am so blessed that you are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow,
and that no matter what I do, you will not love me less. I am so grateful to be
worshiping the same God that Peter worshiped, and I believe that you will use
me in a mighty way the same way you used Peter for your glory. Lord, sorry for
the times you are not God in my life. Sorry for putting others above you. Sorry
for not having the desire and will to work on my relationship with you. Lord, I
ask that you help me live proclaiming that you are the Messiah, that you are my
God, so that I can bring people to you and glorify you. Help me build and
sustain an intimate and personal relationship with you. This I ask in Jesus
name, Amen.
Blessed Day!
In Christ,
-g-
February 20 2020
Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 338
Lectionary: 338
Reading
1 JAS 2:1-9
My
brothers and sisters, show no partiality
as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes
comes into your assembly,
and a poor person with shabby clothes also comes in,
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes
and say, “Sit here, please,”
while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves
and become judges with evil designs?
as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes
comes into your assembly,
and a poor person with shabby clothes also comes in,
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes
and say, “Sit here, please,”
while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves
and become judges with evil designs?
Listen,
my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom
that he promised to those who love him?
But you dishonored the poor.
Are not the rich oppressing you?
And do they themselves not haul you off to court?
Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you?
However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.
But if you show partiality, you commit sin,
and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom
that he promised to those who love him?
But you dishonored the poor.
Are not the rich oppressing you?
And do they themselves not haul you off to court?
Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you?
However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.
But if you show partiality, you commit sin,
and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Responsorial
Psalm PS 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R.
(7a) The Lord hears the cry of the
poor.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Glorify the Lord with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the Lord heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Glorify the Lord with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the Lord heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Alleluia JN 6:63C,
68C
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MK
8:27-33
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.
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.”
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.”
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