Brothers and Sisters,

We have been making our journey with Jesus through the Gospel of Mathew. We heard Jesus calling all his followers to nurture a positive attitude and bless the world in a spirit of fidelity, hospitality, humility, generosity, gentleness, and patience. We heard Jesus calling us to search and discover the kingdom of God, the treasure within us and among us. We met Jesus coming to the frightened disciples on troubled waters. Last Sunday, we heard Jesus calling us to be attentive to the needs of those beyond family and friendship circles

Today, the twenty first Sunday in ordinary time, we meet him in a place called Caesarea Philippi (Mathew 16:13-19). This would have been a long, roundabout, and tiresome journey for Jesus and his disciples. Without going into details of this journey, it would have taken over six months, on foot, to cover the regions mentioned. Jesus may have chosen this long and complicated route to give himself and his disciples quality time to get to know each other. Long journeys tend to give us opportunities to get to know each other at a more personal and deeper level.

It is at the end of this journey that Jesus asked his disciples about who they thought he was. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, and he knew what was waiting for him there. It was now time for him to begin to speak about the rest of his journey. But first he had to know where they were in their knowledge of him. So, he asked them what people thought about him. Some thought that he was John the Baptist and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then he asked them the crucial questions, “who do you say that I am?” Peter was quick: “You are the Messiah” and Jesus was just as quick and spontaneous, “You are Peter.” Jesus and Peter defined each other and affirmed each other in lasting relationship.

This two-thousand-year-old question is being put to us today, “who do you say that am?” We must answer this question as Peter did. The question is not what we know about Jesus. It is about our relationship with him; about how important he has become for us. It is not difficult to say what others think about Jesus just as the disciples did. We can all say what the four Gospels say, what the great saints or popes have said, what our parents have said, etc. It is one thing to share the knowledge of Jesus that we have gained from various sources. Even a non-believer can have much knowledge about Jesus. But to know Jesus, we must meet him, encounter him as a real person, walk with him, dine with him, listen to him and let him be our friend, our teacher and our master and let his way and truth and life become ours.

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