So, tell me, who do you say I Am?

 

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time   (Lectionary: 121)

Il-Wieħed u Għoxrin Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena 

 

Reading 1     ISAIAH 22: 19-23

Thus says the LORD to Shebna, master of the palace: “I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut when he shuts, no one shall open. I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family.” 

Qari I         mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija 22, 19-23

Dan jgħid il-Mulej lil Sebna, dak li jieħu ħsieb il-palazz tas-sultan: “Inwarrbek minn postok, u nneħħik minn fejn qiegħed.  sejjaħ lill-qaddej tiegħi Eljakim, bin Ħilkija, inlibbsu l-libsa iegħek, u nħażżmu bit-terħa tiegħek, u nagħtih f’idejh il-ħakma tiegħek.U jkun missier għal min għammar f’Ġerusalemm, u għad-dar ta’ Ġuda.Inqiegħed muftieħ dar David fuq spallejh. Jiftaħ hu, u ħadd ma jagħlaq; jagħlaq hu, u ħadd ma jiftaħ. U nwaħħlu bħal mumar ma’ ħajt fis-sod, u jkun tron glorjuż għal dar missieru”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej    

Responsorial Psalm      PSALM 138: 1-2, 2, 3,6,8

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth; in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy temple. R. Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands. 

I will give thanks to your name, because of your kindness and your truth: When I called, you answered me; you built up strength within me. R. Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands. 

The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees, and the proud he knows from afar. Your kindness, O LORD, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. R. Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands. 

 Salm Responsorjali        Salm 137 (138), 1-2a.2bc-3.6.8bc

R/. (8b): It-tjieba tiegħek, Mulej, tibqa’ għal dejjem

Irroddlok ħajr, Mulej, b’qalbi kollha, għaliex int smajt kliem fommi. Quddiem l-allat irrid ngħannilek. B’wiċċi fl-art ninxteħet quddiem is-santwarju tiegħek. R/. 

Irroddlok ħajr għat-tjieba u l-fedeltà tiegħek, għax int kabbart ismek u kelmtek fuq kollox. Meta sejjaħtlek, int weġibtni, kattarli l-qawwa f’ruħi. R/.

 Kbir il-Mulej, imma jieħu ħsieb iż-żgħar; u, għalkemm fl-għoli, jagħraf mill-bogħod. Il-Mulej iżomm kelmtu miegħi. It-tjieba tiegħek, Mulej, tibqa’ għal dejjem. R/.

 Reading 2           ROMANS 11: 33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Or who has given the Lord anything that he may be repaid? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.  

Qari II       mill-Ittra ta’ lir-Rumani 11, 33-36

Ħuti, kemm huma kbar l-għana, l-għerf u l-għaqal ta’ Alla! Kemm tassew ħadd ma jista’ jgħarbel il-ġudizzju tiegħu u jifhem it-triqat tiegħu! Għax min qatt għaraf moħħ il-Mulej? Min qatt kien il-kunsillier tiegħu? Min qatt tah l-ewwel biex jistħoqqlu l-ħlas? Kollox ġej minnu, kollox permezz tiegħu, kollox għalih. Lilu l-glorja għal dejjem ta’ dejjem. Amen!  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej 

Gospel       MATTHEW 16:  13-20

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

 Evanġelju         Qari skond San Mattew 16, 13-20

F’dak iż-żmien, meta wasal fl-inħawi ta’ Ċesarija ta’ Filippu, Ġesù staqsa lid-dixxipli tiegħu u qalilhom: “Min jgħidu n-nies li hu Bin il-bniedem?”. U huma weġbuh: “Xi wħud, Ġwanni l-Battista; oħrajn, Elija; u oħrajn, Ġeremija jew wieħed mill-profeti”. “Imma intom min tgħidu li jien?”, staqsiehom. U qabeż Xmun Pietru u qallu: “Inti l-Messija, Bin Alla l-ħaj”. U Ġesù wieġbu u qallu: “Hieni int, Xmun bin Ġona, għax mhux bniedem tad-demm u l-laħam uriek dan, imma Missieri li hu fis-smewwiet. U jiena ngħidlek: Inti Pietru, u fuq din il-blata jiena nibni l-Knisja tiegħi, u s-setgħat tal-infern ma jegħlbuhiex. Jiena nagħtik l-imfietaħ tas-Saltna tas-Smewwiet, u kull ma torbot fuq l-art ikun marbut fis-smewwiet, u kull ma tħoll fuq l-art ikun maħlul fis-smewwiet”. Imbagħad lid-dixxipli tiegħu wissiehom biex ma jitkellmu ma’ ħadd fuq li huwa l-Messija. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej 

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Who Do You Say I Am? 

Gospel Commentary by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, Pontifical Household Preacher.

 There is a practice in today’s culture and society that can help us toward understanding this Sunday’s Gospel: opinion polls. These are conducted everywhere, especially in the political and commercial spheres. One day Jesus also wanted to do an opinion poll, but, as we shall see, for a different purpose. He did it not for political reasons, but for educational ones. 

Having arrived in Caesarea Philippi, that is, in the northernmost region of Israel, and taking a little rest alone with the apostles, Jesus asks them, point blank, “Who do people say that the son of man is?”  It seems that the apostles were not expecting to be asked more than to report what people were saying of him. They answered: "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 

But Jesus was not interested in measuring his popularity or in looking for an index of how well he was regarded by the people. His purpose was entirely different. So he immediately followed his first question with a second: “Who do you say that I am?" 

This second, unexpected question catches them completely off guard. There is silence and they stand looking at each other. In the Greek it makes it clear that all of the apostles together responded to the first question and that only one person, namely, Simon Peter, responded to the second question: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” 

Between the two responses there is a leap over an abyss, a “conversion.” To answer the first question it was only necessary to look around, to have listened to people’s opinions. But to answer the second question, it was necessary to look inside, to listen to a completely different voice, a voice that was not of flesh and blood but of the Father in heaven. Peter was enlightened from on high. 

It is the first clear recognition of the true identity of Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospels. The first public act of faith in Christ in history! Think about the wake that a big ship makes in the sea. It widens as the ship goes forward until it is lost on the horizon. But it begins at a single point, which is the ship itself. Faith in Jesus Christ is like this. It is as a wake that widens as it moves through history, and travels to “the very ends of the earth.” But it starts at a single point. And this point is Peter’s act of faith. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” 

Jesus uses another image, which implies stability rather than movement. It is a vertical instead of a horizontal image. It is that of a rock: “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church.” 

Jesus changes his name -- as often happens in the Bible when someone receives an important mission -- from Simon to Cephas, or Peter -- “rock.” The true rock, the “cornerstone” is, and remains, Jesus himself. But once he has risen and ascended into heaven, this “cornerstone,” though present and active, is invisible. It is necessary for a sign to represent him, a sign that makes Christ, who is the “unshakeable foundation,” visible and efficacious in history. And this sign is Peter and, after him, his vicar, the Pope, successor of Peter, as head of the college of apostles. 

But let us return to the idea of polling. Jesus' poll, as we saw, has two parts, which have two distinct questions. First, “Who do people say that I am?” And second, “Who do you say that I am?” 

Jesus does not seem to value very much what the people think of him. He wants to know what his disciples think of him. He immediately asks them to speak for themselves. He does not let them hide behind the opinions of others. He wants them to speak of their own opinions. Almost the identical situation repeats itself today. 

Today as well “people,” “public opinion,” has its ideas about Jesus. Jesus is in vogue. Just look at what is going on in the world of literature and entertainment. A year does not go by in which there does not appear a novel or a film with its own distorted and sacrilegious vision of Christ. Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code” has been the most well-known one of late and has produced many imitators. 

Then there are those who are middle-of-the-road, like the people of Jesus’ time, who believe Jesus to be “one of the prophets.” He is regarded as a fascinating person and placed alongside Socrates, Gandhi and Tolstoy. I am sure that Jesus does not scorn these responses to him, because the Bible says of him that he does not “quench the smouldering wick and does not break the bruised reed,” that is, he appreciates every honest effort on the part of man. 

But, the truth be told, this view of Jesus does not seem quite right even from a human point of view. Neither Gandhi nor Tolstoy ever said: “I am the way, the truth and the life,” or “Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worth of me.” 

With Jesus you cannot not be middle-of-the-road. Either he is what he claims to be, or he is not a great man, but rather a great lunatic lifted up by history. There are no half-measures. There are buildings and structures made of steel -- I believe that the Eiffel Tower in Paris is one -- made in such a way that if you touch a certain point or remove a certain element, everything will come down. The edifice of the Christian faith is like this, and this neuralgic point is the divinity of Jesus Christ. 

But let us leave aside the responses of the people and consider the nonbelievers. Believing in the divinity of Christ is not enough; you must also bear witness to it. Whoever knows him and does not bear witness to this faith, indeed even hides it, is more responsible before God that those who do not have this faith. 

In a scene in Paul Claudel’s play “The Humiliated Father,” a Jewish girl, beautiful but blind, alluding to the double meaning of light, asks her Christian friend: “You who see, what use have you made of the light?” It is a question that is asked of all of us who claim to be believers. [Translated from the Italian original by Zenit] 

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