Reflection for Aug. 23, 2020

And move mountains, we must!!!!??

I do believe in Jesus as the Son of the living God but can I say it at the same intensity as Simon? I am afraid not. Lord please help me get to that level of intensity. Thank you Sister Sally for your inspiring reflection. Have a wonderful day!

Ah, Peter! Out-spoken Peter! One who does not hide his feelings, nor try to conceal his thoughts. And so it is that Peter, who so boldly and confidently professed JESUS as The Christ in front of the other disciples, is also the one who, as all four gospel writers record, denied JESUS three times - and wept bitterly in the realization of his personal betrayal of his LORD. [Jn. 18: 15-27; Mt. 26: 69-70; Mk. 14: 66-68; Lk. 22:55-57]

And then, Martha ~ sister to Mary and Lazarus, a family from Bethany, and all very close friends of JESUS. Martha, too, professes JESUS as 'Messiah,' and 'Son of God.' [Jn. 11:17-27] And, so too, does the soldier at the cross, along with others, who witness the trembling and darkened earth as JESUS dies: Mt. 27:45-56;Mk. 15: 33-39; Lk. 23:44-49.

I wonder if, as JESUS probed Peter, along with the other disciples, as to his identity and what that meant to each one of them, if he could have known how many others would come to declare him as 'Messiah,' 'LORD,' 'Son of God?' How about you and I? Did JESUS have you and I in mind when he asked, "Who do you say that I AM?"

Yes, it's time to move mountains! Believe, have faith!

Thanks so much for your wonderful reflection, Sister

When asked the question, "Who do you say Jesus is?" I answer, "He's my 'Best friend!'" In doing Wedding Preparations, I always stressed to young couples. Be each other's Best Friend, because Best Friends don't hurt each other. Bottom Line: Jesus never hurts me - I try very hard daily, not to hurt him!" Thanks for asking...

Thank you, Sally Ann, for highlighting this question presenting by Jesus in Sunday's Gospel.

I appreciate your challenge to answer the question from 2 different points of view. First, it seems easy to give an "identification" of who Jesus is according to his heritage and according to the prophetic writings. But then I consider your invitation to see the question from a personal viewpoint of who Jesus is for me. That leads me to contemplation. Many thanks.

Thank you for your reflection - comparing Jesus asking who he is to our natural concern about what people think about us. Good question - Who do I say that Jesus is? What is my belief and how do I relate to Jesus?

Sister Sally,

I enjoyed your reflection. In reading it my thoughts turned to the contemporary issues relating to people being concerned about what people think about them, Social Media. For all its good, it concerns me how many people are hurt by others comments and the negative impact they can have on one's own self image. It is probably most concerning considering the impact they can have on our young people, leading them to such despair and self doubt that they lose hope. I often wish that so many who are impacted by what others think about them could have that mind set of Jesus: "Jesus probably is not very curious about what people are saying about Him. He knows who He is." If each of us could just know and believe in who we are, what a shield it would be against concerns over what others think of us. Blessings!!!

I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my faith & my belief in the Father, Son & the Holy Spirit. They keep me going and I talk to them many times during the day! Amen!