August 27
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.”
Readings
Reflection
We Catholics are blessed in many ways by our Eucharistic faith and practices. Perhaps the most significant difference we have with other faiths is the concept that the Pope as leader of our church has a supernatural connection to God and to the popes who came before him. All this is due to the words that were said by Jesus to Peter in our gospel reading this weekend; “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.” With those words, Jesus lays the foundation of the Catholic church, and this foundation has continued unbroken to this very day and will do so forever.
With all of the pomp and pageantry of the papacy, it is easy to get caught up in the ceremonial aspects of our church. It is important, however, to remember the reason that Jesus saw Peter as the leader of the church. Peter recognized Jesus as “the Messiah, the son of the living God,” when he was asked the question; “Who do you say that I am?” by Jesus. It is this recognition that allows Peter to be the leader of God’s Church on earth.
As Catholics and members of that Church, we must also answer the question of who Jesus is. We must answer it each day of our lives, with our actions and with our words. We recognize that our faith is a gift from God and that answering the question asked by Jesus is something that we do in that faith. As we say in the Creed, we "believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son, Our Lord.” This creedal statement is one way we answer the question of who Jesus is.
Our actions comprise the rest of our answer. We answer the question of who Jesus is by doing the things he asked us to do: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and clothe the naked, among other things. Our actions tell the world who Jesus is and who we are in him. Let us follow the leadership of our Pope and go out into the world to serve those who are the least of his brothers and sisters.
Keep the faith,
Deacon Dare
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