Today's Gospel Reading taken from Luke 9: 18-24
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They said in reply,"John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'" Then he said to them, "But who do yu say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Christ of God." He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."
(Taken from the June Magnificat pg 286)
Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter replies: "The Christ of God." Peter knows this to be so, not because he discovered the answer in a book, but because he looked at the facts of his own ife. Since he had met Jesus Christ, he had changed. And the change that he experienced in his person can only be the work of a divine Person. "You are all one in Christ Jesus... You belong to Christ." Since the time Peter began to belong to Christ, he became more fully himself. God had poured out on him "a spirit of grace and petition." Once Peter looks "on him whom they have pierced," he will be able to make his profession with even more conviction... up to the day of his own martyrdom.
We know that we truly live our faith because we are changed by Jesus' presence in our lives. We become one with him and he increases while we decrease. It is no longer our will that is done each day but his. We discover a joy beyond what the world gives. We no longer think with our minds, but with our hearts. We know that we are loved by our God and all that we possess no longer possesses us.
God bless!!
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