| First Reading: Psalm: Gospel: | Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19 Matthew 16:13-23 |
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
This perhaps is one of the most controversial verses in all of scripture. The question is, is Peter being set up as leader of the church here, or is he a model that shows that all can be blessed by God, even Peter. Peter was not part of the religious elite. He was a fisherman. Yet God blessed him. Jeremiah tells us that we will all know the Lord, not just those in authority.
My hunch is that even though Peter was very special, as we all are to God, it is more important to get that we all need to know the Lord and not rely solely on those who claim to have religious authority. Rather we should look for those whom God has blessed to be his witnesses and we should expect that that could be us at any moment.
Father, help me by your Holy Spirit to always be ready to be a Peter. Help me to be prepared to witness for you and to be bold enough to speak what you give me to speak. Help me to be able to discern whether others are truly called by you or they are speaking from their own pride.
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment