First Reading - Genesis 9:1-13
Gospel - Mark 8:27-33
The first reading presents some key ideas like blessing, injunction, and punishment as a consequence. God, after the flood, makes a covenant with Noah and his sons. The covenant contains blessings for the progeny of Noah. It contains an injunction to avoid repeating the sin of Cain—that is, killing, murder, or any form of carnality. Any infringement of the covenant, God warns, would result in punishment. As a sign of the covenant, the rainbow is set in the sky.
This account is interesting and at the same time contains a deep meaning. The emphasis on respecting human dignity is remarkable. The passage underlines that human dignity issues from God Himself because every person bears the image and likeness of God. Therefore, irrespective of social or economic status, it must always be considered that every person deserves respect and honor because of his or her personhood as a human being.
The Gospel passage presents one of the three prophecies of the Passion of Jesus. Jesus, desiring to know what people think about him, asks his disciples, "What do people say I am?" The disciples give various answers based on the opinions of people, such as John the Baptist, Elijah, or other prophets. Thereafter, a personal question is directed to them: "Who do you say I am?" Peter represents the group and hits the nail on the head by giving the correct answer: "You are the Christ." However, the understanding of the disciples was yet to be purified. Hence, Jesus tells them that he is a suffering Messiah. This astonishes everyone, for they expected Jesus to be a political Messiah, a revolutionary who would overthrow the dominion of the Roman Empire over the Jews and re-establish the kingdom of David. This view is evident in Peter’s negation of the prophecy. Jesus reprimands Peter for tempting him to give up the path of suffering and become a revolutionary Messiah.
Dear friends, we need to ask ourselves who Jesus is and what Jesus means to us. Is he a founder of a religion? A revolutionary Jewish reformer? One of the great teachers? The Son of God or our personal Savior? This can perhaps be broken down into other questions as well: “How do I really see Jesus? Is Jesus a living experience for me—walking with me, loving me, forgiving me, helping me, and transforming my life and outlook? What difference does Jesus make in my life? Have I really given my life to Jesus? Are there areas where I have excluded Jesus, where my life is not noticeably different from the lives of those who see Jesus as irrelevant? What do we say that Jesus is through our daily life? Who do we say that Jesus is when we are in the presence of those who don’t know Jesus or those who aren’t interested in Jesus? What does the way we live and behave say about who Jesus is? Is the joy, the love, and the peace that we find in Jesus reflected in the way we live our lives?
We are gathered here today in the name of Jesus. We have not come together to celebrate a continuing memorial for a merely good man who died long ago. We are here to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, the Messiah, our Lord and Savior, in this Eucharistic celebration in which we encounter directly the Living God. “The salvation which Christ has already won for all is not yet complete. It must be accepted, embraced, and acted out in the free lives of believers today.” (Catechism for Filipino Catholics).
Our personal response to the question ("Who do you say I am?") is always reflected in our lives, particularly in our relationships with one another. The first reading reminds us that we should respect every person, even the sick, the poor, the neglected, or the isolated. Our attitude in accepting everyone equally displays our relationship with God and how we accept God in our lives.
Let us pray that we may be able to accept Jesus as our Messiah with conviction and live this acceptance in our relationships with one another.
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