Readings 082326
Blessed be God…
praise be to Jesus Christ,
now and forever. Amen.
And we pray:
Come Holy Spirit…
fill us with joy,
set our hearts ablaze
with Your presence.
My friends in Christ…
sometimes the deepest truths
come from the smallest voices.
If I were to ask my grandchildren,
or any of the children here today,
“Who is Jesus?”
almost every one of them would answer,
“He is God.”
A simple truth.
A profound truth.
A truth so small a child can hold it…
and so great an adult can spend a lifetime
trying to understand it.
But here is the bridge—
that childlike answer
is not just a sweet moment.
It is the doorway
to the greatest mystery of our faith.
Because if Jesus is God…
then He is the One
from whom,
through whom,
and for whom
all things exist.
And that truth—
that confession—
is the “key to the kingdom of heaven”.
Yet we do not live
in a childlike world.
We live in a world
full of opinions,
full of interpretations,
full of different versions
of who people "think" Jesus is.
Some take pieces of Scripture
and build a Christ
who fits their preferences.
Others quietly set aside
the words Jesus actually spoke
and create a Savior
who never challenges,
never confronts,
never calls them deeper.
But the Church…
the Church does not invent Christ.
The Church receives Him.
The Church proclaims Him.
The Church guards the truth
handed down through the apostles.
And today’s Gospel
brings us right to the center
of that apostolic truth.
Jesus looks at His disciples—
and He looks at us—
and asks the question
that echoes through every generation:
“But who do you say that I am?”
Not—
Who do you wish I were?
But—
Who do you say that I am?
And Peter,
with a heart touched by grace,
steps forward and speaks the confession
that unlocks heaven:
“You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.”
This is not a symbol.
Not a personal invention.
Not a comfortable idea.
This is the Christ—
the One who holds
the key of David,
the key of truth,
the key of heaven.
And Saint Paul invites us
to stand on the edge
of that mystery:
“Oh, the depth of the riches
and wisdom
and knowledge of God.”
My friends…
in a world full of opinions about Jesus,
each opinion tries to make
its own key.
But only one key
opens the kingdom of heaven—
the key Peter held,
the key the Church guards,
the key of the true Christ.
So Jesus still asks us,
every single day:
“Who do you say that I am?”
May our answer be Peter’s answer.
May our hearts echo his confession.
And may our lives proclaim
the Christ who is Lord of all.
To Him be glory forever.
Amen.
Be good…
be holy…
and preach the Gospel
with a childlike truth—
in the way you live your life,
in the way you love one another,
and in the way you forgive.
Praise be Jesus Christ,
now and forever.
Amen.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
Set our hearts ablaze
with Your Holy Spirit.
Keep us faithful to the truth
of Your Word.
Make our lives a quiet Gospel
for all to see.
Amen
