Saint Luke 9,18-22: You are the Messiah of God.
Yesterday in the Gospel we saw that the one interested in knowing who Jesus was Cristos Herod. Today the question is asked by Jesus himself to his disciples. First, «who do people say I am?» The answer is the same as yesterday: Elijah, or John, or a prophet. But immediately Jesus asks them directly: «And you, who do you say that I am?» The answer comes, of course, from the lips of Peter, the most determined of the group: «The Messiah of God.» Messiah is a Hebrew word. In Greek it is said Christós. In Spanish, Anointed. Jesus is the Anointed of God, that is , the one on whom God has sent his Spirit, anointing him with his strength, to carry out a mission.
Today Jesus asks each of us the same question that he had asked his disciples: who is Jesus for us? Of course, we «know» already who Jesus is. Not only do we believe in him as the Son of God and Saviour of mankind, but we also want to follow him faithfully in everyday life. But we have to frequently refresh this conviction, thinking if our life is really oriented towards him, if we accept him, not only as a teacher and a miraculous doctor, but also as the Messiah who goes to the cross, which is what he is. which he adds to Peter’s confession. The latter is what the apostles found most difficult to accept in their following of Jesus, because the messianism that they had in their heads was rather triumphalist and sociopolitical.
Today it would be good to ask ourselves who is Jesus for me now, in this concrete stage of the life that I am living? Because there may be an evolution – many healthy voices – in my understanding of the figure of Jesus. Unless you have made a custom image for me, with a selection of aspects of the gospel, instead of the authentic Jesus, with the cross included. For example, the Jesus with whom we commune in each Eucharist is the «Body given by …»: and we must assimilate throughout the day that same attitude of self-giving for others.
The question can be completed in the direction of our apostolate with others: in catechesis, in preaching, in theological reflection, what Jesus do I proclaim? The Jesus of the gospel, or the one we «like» because we present him more comfortable and according to the ideological trend of the day? The Good News is not invented. It comes to us from Christ, comforting and demanding at the same time.
Peace and good
Fr. Antonio Majeesh George Kallely, OFM
