May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
The Lord Jesus is found
in prayer, and then two questions are presented to the disciples. The answer to the first question is a
statement of fact. The answer to the
second question is a statement of faith.
The Lord Jesus says to
his disciples who had joined themselves to his time of solitary prayer, “Who do
the crowds say that I am?” The answers
are varied. Some of the crowds think
that Jesus is John the Baptist, raised from the dead. John the Baptist, whose birth the Church will
celebrate on Monday, had recently been executed by Herod because he preached
about the sanctity of marriage. Some of
the crowds believed that Jesus was the prophet Elijah, the one who had long ago
been taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot.
And some of the crowds thought that Jesus was another prophet from the Old
Testament. Public opinion was correct
about some of the details. Indeed the
Lord Jesus preached about the sanctity of marriage, and about justice, and
about caring for the weak and the poor.
But the crowds missed the essential part of the story. The crowds can tell us about what Jesus
did. They do not tell us about who Jesus
is.
Having answered the
question about facts, the Lord Jesus asks the disciples the question of
faith. “Who do you say that I am?” This is the most important question ever presented
to the disciples. This is the most
important question that is presented to the Church in every generation. And this is the most important question that
will ever be presented to each of us. Everything about the lives of the
disciples will be affected by the answer to this question. Everything about the Church is affected by
the answer to this question. And
everything about our lives should be affected by our answer to this question: Who
is Jesus?
In our reading from the
book of the Prophet Zechariah, we hear the promise of the Lord that the spirit
of grace and petition will be poured out on the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. This spirit
will enable the people to gaze on the one who has been pierced, and among the
people there will be great weeping and mourning. But there will also be a fountain to purify
the people from their sin and from their uncleanness. The promised spirit enables the people to pray. Through prayer the people are able to
recognize the one who is the acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the
world. And through the cleansing waters
of the fountain, the people share in that sacrifice.
Through this spirit of
grace and prayer, promised many generations before his time, Peter professes
his faith and the faith of the Church, that Jesus is the Christ of
God. The Lord Jesus reveals to them that
the Christ of God is not an earthly king.
He is not a military ruler. The
Christ is one who will suffer and die.
The Christ of God is one who will be raised from the dead. The Christ of God will not conquer a
government. He will conquer sin and
death. From his pierced side will flow
the fountain of blood and water that will purify the people from their
sins. From the pierced side of Christ
flows the life-giving power of the sacramental life of the Church.
The promised Spirit has
been given to us so that we can recognize the Lord Jesus, so that we can join
in his prayer, and so that we can share in his sacrifice. As we now join in the prayer of Christ the
High Priest as he offers himself on the Altar, may we
join with Peter in the profession of faith.
May we mourn for our sins and rejoice in the mercy of God. And may we join with Christ the Savior who
will lead us to everlasting life. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
