Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Fourth (24th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (September 13 2015)

Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Fourth (24th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (September 13 2015)

Theme: Who is Jesus Christ for You?

Examinations are important aspects of the learning process. It is always important to examine students to know how much they have learned and how far they can apply what they know to concrete circumstances. In today’s gospel reading (Mark 8:27-35), Jesus considered it wise to examine his disciples on what they know about him. The question was “Who do people say I am?” The disciples gave him the common conception among the people: “John the Baptist,” they said “others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.”  Jesus went further to ask them: “But you, who do you say I am?” To this question Peter replied: “You are the Christ.”

Reflection/Homily: Twelfth (12th) Sunday of the Year C (June 23 2013)

Reflection/Homily: Twelfth (12^th) Sunday of the Year C (June 23 2013)

Theme: Personal Identity

Personal identity simply means the sum total of all those elements and factors that makes a person who he is. It is the unique characteristic of a being. This personal identity reflects the way people see and understand a person. Today, we shall look at the personal identity of Jesus and that of his followers. In the gospel reading (Luke 9:18-24), we see Jesus investigating into his personal identity or we can say, evaluating those characteristics by which people knew him. To discover this he asked his disciples “Who do people say I am?” Upon their response, he asked them “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter stood up and gave a personal response of his understanding of the identity of Christ by responding: “The Messiah of God.”

We observe that the crowd had diverse understanding of the identity of Christ. Some may have said he was John the Baptist because he went about preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Others may have said he was Elijah because he went about performing miracles and doing good works. The rest said he was one of the former prophets perhaps because he went about rebuking people for their evil deeds. Peter’s confession though inspired by God thus became a sincere representation of the manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah in his life. We recall that in Luke 4:38,39, Jesus manifested his messiahship when he healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a high fever and saved Peter from distress.