Throughout our
lives, as Christians, by both our words and our actions, we will have to answer
that question that Jesus poses in our Gospel today, “Who do you say that I am?”
And, if our answer is the same as St. Peter’s then it will have consequences, those same that we see happening on a daily basis throughout the world, the same that are happening no matter where we go. Because, to profess belief in Christ, to stand up for our faith in a time when we are being silenced means that what is being asked is more than a simple response to a loaded question, it is a response that has the very potential of costing even our own lives.
This past week it was nearly impossible to turn on the news without hearing about the American journalist, James Foley who was beheaded by ISIS, and while he died a valiant death and some are even calling him a martyr, it seems what allowed him to stay strong and calm amidst his captivity was something he discovered the first time he was captured.
For, in letter he wrote he said: “Myself and two colleagues had been captured and were being held in a military detention center in Tripoli.” Here, he goes on to say: “I began to pray the rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed. I said 10 Hail Marys between each Our Father. It took a long time, almost an hour to count 100 Hail Marys off on my knuckles. And it helped to keep my mind focused.”
And, while explaining how that prayer and the prayers of others helped him and kept him strong, he ends the letter with these words: “If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom first and later the miracle of being released during a war in which the regime had no real incentive to free us. It didn’t make sense, but faith did.” And, while he was released once, it was when he was recaptured in 2012 that led to his death only a few days ago.
He knew, along with countless other Christians what it means to answer that question in our Gospel today, for, his answer had consequences as it has for the countless others who are giving their lives. And while they might even be saved if they convert, they aren’t, instead they are showing and reminding us all of what it means to live our faith, what it means to answer that question in our Gospel today.
For us, it’s simple, we get in our cars, drive a few miles or more, and go to Mass, for other Christians, there’s no churches left, for them, the priests are scattered, if not all but gone, for them the end of Christianity in countless regions is almost inevitable.
And, while Jesus promises that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against the Church, then that means, more than ever, we ourselves need to practice and embrace our faith as if we have never done so before. Our faith needs to become our lives, because, one day, our lives may depend upon our faith, so, each day, we need to build upon that rock, the solid foundation of Christ.
More than ever, in this day and age, it has become dangerous to be or to even say we are Christian, because it is a challenge, it is struggle, more so than it has been in the recent past, but what we are is the result of over 2000 years of that same struggle, those who laid down their lives from the 2nd century to today, not because they had a death wish or something to prove, but because their faith was worth dying for.
That is why at every single Mass we should be thankful, not because we had to get out of bed, not because we fulfilled our obligation, but because we can still have Mass, we can still receive the Most Holy Eucharist, and we can still say that we are Christians without reproach.
Jesus asks a simple question in our Gospel: “Who do you say that I am,” it is a question that should haunt us, it is a question that should inspire us, it is a question that should motivate us, but, above all, it is a question that we should seek to answer each and every day, by our actions, by our words, by our prayer, and by our devotion. Because, what we are being asked is a question that affects the very essence of our lives, similar, in fact, to the other question Jesus posed to St. Peter: “Do you love me?”
And our answer, in the end, has to be more than just: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” it has be I believe, I trust and I love, with every part of my being, that what we say reflects who we are and what we do on a daily basis, that, indeed, we are Christians, that, indeed, we are Catholics, that, indeed, we believe.
And, if our answer is the same as St. Peter’s then it will have consequences, those same that we see happening on a daily basis throughout the world, the same that are happening no matter where we go. Because, to profess belief in Christ, to stand up for our faith in a time when we are being silenced means that what is being asked is more than a simple response to a loaded question, it is a response that has the very potential of costing even our own lives.
This past week it was nearly impossible to turn on the news without hearing about the American journalist, James Foley who was beheaded by ISIS, and while he died a valiant death and some are even calling him a martyr, it seems what allowed him to stay strong and calm amidst his captivity was something he discovered the first time he was captured.
For, in letter he wrote he said: “Myself and two colleagues had been captured and were being held in a military detention center in Tripoli.” Here, he goes on to say: “I began to pray the rosary. It was what my mother and grandmother would have prayed. I said 10 Hail Marys between each Our Father. It took a long time, almost an hour to count 100 Hail Marys off on my knuckles. And it helped to keep my mind focused.”
And, while explaining how that prayer and the prayers of others helped him and kept him strong, he ends the letter with these words: “If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom first and later the miracle of being released during a war in which the regime had no real incentive to free us. It didn’t make sense, but faith did.” And, while he was released once, it was when he was recaptured in 2012 that led to his death only a few days ago.
He knew, along with countless other Christians what it means to answer that question in our Gospel today, for, his answer had consequences as it has for the countless others who are giving their lives. And while they might even be saved if they convert, they aren’t, instead they are showing and reminding us all of what it means to live our faith, what it means to answer that question in our Gospel today.
For us, it’s simple, we get in our cars, drive a few miles or more, and go to Mass, for other Christians, there’s no churches left, for them, the priests are scattered, if not all but gone, for them the end of Christianity in countless regions is almost inevitable.
And, while Jesus promises that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against the Church, then that means, more than ever, we ourselves need to practice and embrace our faith as if we have never done so before. Our faith needs to become our lives, because, one day, our lives may depend upon our faith, so, each day, we need to build upon that rock, the solid foundation of Christ.
More than ever, in this day and age, it has become dangerous to be or to even say we are Christian, because it is a challenge, it is struggle, more so than it has been in the recent past, but what we are is the result of over 2000 years of that same struggle, those who laid down their lives from the 2nd century to today, not because they had a death wish or something to prove, but because their faith was worth dying for.
That is why at every single Mass we should be thankful, not because we had to get out of bed, not because we fulfilled our obligation, but because we can still have Mass, we can still receive the Most Holy Eucharist, and we can still say that we are Christians without reproach.
Jesus asks a simple question in our Gospel: “Who do you say that I am,” it is a question that should haunt us, it is a question that should inspire us, it is a question that should motivate us, but, above all, it is a question that we should seek to answer each and every day, by our actions, by our words, by our prayer, and by our devotion. Because, what we are being asked is a question that affects the very essence of our lives, similar, in fact, to the other question Jesus posed to St. Peter: “Do you love me?”
And our answer, in the end, has to be more than just: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” it has be I believe, I trust and I love, with every part of my being, that what we say reflects who we are and what we do on a daily basis, that, indeed, we are Christians, that, indeed, we are Catholics, that, indeed, we believe.
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