Replies

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Pastor’s Column

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

June 29, 2014

Jesus and his disciples have entered Caesarea Philippi, a Roman town in Galilee that was filled with pagan shrines. Jesus led the disciples there to get away from the Jewish crowds. While in the midst of casual conversation, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say I am?” The answers come quickly, none of them quite accurate. Perhaps the disciples were laughing. Then the conversation lags for a moment as Jesus looks directly at the twelve: "And who do YOU say that I am?”

Who do you say that Jesus is? Most of us, if asked this question, would reply “Jesus is the Lord” or “The Son of God.” But is he really? One way that we can tell if Jesus is the Lord of our lives is by how we speak. Try listening to yourself for a week. Do I tend to speak ill of others? If that person could overhear me, would I have to change the subject? Do I tend to use vulgar or obscene words?

Am I a thankful person or a complainer? Do I speak one way in public and another way in private? One of the greatest spiritual weapons that we can add to our arsenal is silence. Oftentimes the best thing to say is actually nothing.

One of my good friends, who is a nun, once told me what she used to help her keep quiet when she was driving. She had a tendency to gripe about other drivers. So she put a sign on the car seat that she could see just before she sat down: “Be holy. Shut up!” Must I really criticize that person? And, when I complain, doesn’t it actually make things worse? Must I tell everyone what so and so did to me or that gossip I have heard? Exterior silence or keeping quiet is a great tool for growing in holiness and having a more peaceful life.

Jesus also wants to be Lord of what goes on inside our heads. Keeping interior silence means learning to quiet that interior dialogue, especially what is harmful or negative toward ourselves or others. Many saints have learned a great secret: much peace can be gained by turning off the destructive dialogue. Someone may have hurt us deeply. We keep going over their painful words and deeds in our minds, over and over. Meanwhile, the person who has hurt us has gone on their merry way and could not care less about it! Not only does this nurture un-forgiveness in our hearts, which is a sin, but it harms us both physically and spiritually.

Instead, when we become aware that we have begun thinking these destructive thoughts, we can replace them immediately with a picture of the Lord Jesus entering right into that hurtful scene, looking at us and motioning for us to be quiet, for this is how he responded toward those who hurt him. Thus, even our most painful experiences can become a secret prayer shared by Jesus.

Father Gary

Reflections from Scott Hahn

The Apostles’ Church: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul

Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 06.27.14 |

Readings:
Acts 12:1–11
Psalm 34:2–9
 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 17–18
Matthew 16:13–19

This Sunday’s celebration of the great apostles Peter and Paul is a celebration of the Church. Peter’s deliverance from jail is compared to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Like Israel he is rescued at Passover from “the hand” of his enemy by an “angel of the Lord” after girding himself with belt, sandals, and cloak (see Ex 3:8; 12:8, 11–12; 14:19).

The Church is, as Peter says, “all that the Jewish people had been expecting.” As he affirms in his great confession of faith in Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is “the Christ,” the Messiah that the prophets had taught Israel to hope for.

But Christ is more than what the Jewish people had been hoping for.

He is the Christ. But He is also, as Peter confesses, “the Son of the living God.” Born of the flesh of the Jewish people, he is a son of Abraham and David (see Mt 1:1; Rm 1:3). Through Him and the Church founded on the rock of Peter’s faith, God fulfills the promise he made to Abraham—to bless all nations in his seed (see Gen 22:18).

What Christ calls “my Church,” is the new Israel, the kingdom of God, the family made up of all peoples—Jews and Gentiles—who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (see Gal 3:26–29; 6:16). And we must make this confession our own. Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” is addressed to each of us personally.

We must confess our faith in Christ not only with our tongues, but with our lives. As Paul describes his discipleship in this week’s Epistle, we must make our lives a oblation, an offering of love for the sake of Jesus and His kingdom (see Rm 12:1).

We know, as we sing in this week’s Psalm, that the Lord has rescued us in Christ Jesus. We know that he will stand by us, giving us strength to face every evil—and that He will bring us to the heavenly kingdom we anticipate in this Eucharist.