When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea
Philippi 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."
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Reflection:
Do you pray to the Lord for the gift of faith?
Faith in God is a gift that Jesus freely gives
us without any form of ransom. However, like we water and nurture a plant
because we want it to grow and bear much fruit. It’s the same also with our
faith we must also do something to care for it so that it may grow and bear
much fruit.
Otherwise if we would not take care of it will
not grow and with the passing of time it will eventually fly away from
us. When Jesus said to the apostles: “Who do people say that the Son
of Man is?" Amongst them it was only Simon Peter who answered correctly when
he said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
How did he discover the true identity of
Jesus? God gave him that gift to discern the true identity of Jesus. Thus,
Peter used that gift to the hilt by nurturing it in doing so he discovered the
true nature of Jesus.
We may not know it but by virtue of our Baptism
God has given us gifts too and one of those is the gift of faith. This gift of
faith is within us, let us pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we
would be able to share it. – Marino J. Dasmarinas