The WORD today reminds me to always be aware of who Jesus is in my life.

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 see 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.

The way we live would tell who Jesus is. We are still in a pandemic. And we should continue to proclaim Jesus by our lives. How we react to the situation. How we relate to others. How we share him and his blessings to others.

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? How can I proclaim it during this pandemic?

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 snd 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 worshipping the same God that Peter worshipped, 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 many times you are not God in my life. Sorry for putting other things and people ahead of you. Sorry also for not developing and maintaining an intimate and personal 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. May I live proclaiming your goodness and greatness. This I ask in Jesus name, Amen.

Blessed Day!

In Christ,

-g-

Daily Readings

Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 410

Reading I

Nm 20:1-13

The whole congregation of the children of Israel
arrived in the desert of Zin in the first month,
and the people settled at Kadesh.
It was here that Miriam died, and here that she was buried.

As the community had no water,
they held a council against Moses and Aaron.
The people contended with Moses, exclaiming,
“Would that we too had perished with our kinsmen in the Lord’s presence!
Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this desert
where we and our livestock are dying?
Why did you lead us out of Egypt,
only to bring us to this wretched place
which has neither grain nor figs nor vines nor pomegranates?
Here there is not even water to drink!”
But Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly
to the entrance of the meeting tent, where they fell prostrate.

Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them,
and the LORD said to Moses,
“Take your staff and assemble the community,
you and your brother Aaron,
and in their presence order the rock to yield its waters.
From the rock you shall bring forth water for the congregation
and their livestock to drink.”
So Moses took his staff from its place before the LORD, as he was ordered.
He and Aaron assembled the community in front of the rock,
where he said to them, “Listen to me, you rebels!
Are we to bring water for you out of this rock?”
Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff,
and water gushed out in abundance for the people
and their livestock to drink.
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
“Because you were not faithful to me
in showing forth my sanctity before the children of Israel,
you shall not lead this community into the land I will give them.”

These are the waters of Meribah,
where the children of Israel contended against the Lord,
and where the LORD revealed his sanctity among them.

Responsorial Psalm

95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R.   (8)  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
   let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R.    If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
   let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
   and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R.   If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
   “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
   as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tested me;
   they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R.    If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Alleluia

Mt 16:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 16:13-23

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.

My Simple Reflection

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Who Is Jesus for Me