The Catholic Calendar for Thursday, August 5, 2004
Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome

Scripture from Wednesday’s Liturgy of the Word:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19
Matthew 16:13-21

A reflection on today’s Sacred Scripture:

“Who Do You Say that I Am?”

Opinions differ about Jesus. Some say that he was a good man and a great teacher. Others say that He was a weakling leading weaklings who need religion as a crutch. Still others say that He didn’t even exist. And yet others say with Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

This is what we profess. But how do we profess and live it?

Words are a start. We defend our faith and the person of Jesus Christ when the occasion calls for it. But words alone are insufficient.

Our best proclamation of the divinity of Jesus Christ is in our actions toward others. We say, “You are the Christ” when we help someone who turns to us in hope and desperation. We say, “You are the Son of the Living God,” when we love someone that others consider unlovable.

We proclaim the divinity and the power of our Lord when we live lives of chastity (according to our station in life) and obedience to the just admonitions of the Holy Catholic Church.

We proclaim the power of our Lord through our love of all of His creation and most particularly through the substantive signs of that love that we share with those in need--financial, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual.

Do not allow Peter’s claim to be a thing of words only. Allow it to seize your heart to take a grip on you and to transform your entire life. The world can never have too many Blessed Mother Teresa’s. When we proclaim Peter’s word perfectly, we help to build the kingdom of God, and we ourselves become the instruments of that Kingdom.

Then meditate upon Peter’s words and let them take root in your heart. There they will transform you, and at the same time, a part of the world. You will be both blessed and a blessing, moving everyone closer to that time when “Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

- JuandelaCruz
(sriddle415 at yahoo dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:41 AM