“Peter said in reply, 'The Christ of God'.” (Lk 9:20)
FIRST READING: Eccl 3:1-11
A reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes
There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every thing under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
What advantage has the worker from his toil?
I have considered the task that God has appointed
for the sons of men to be busied about.
He has made everything appropriate to its time,
and has put the timeless into their hearts,
without man’s ever discovering,
from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY: Lk 9:18-22
From the Gospel according to Luke
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Lk 9:18-22)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
The Word of God in today's Gospel recounts Jesus praying alone to God the Father and the disciples were with him, He asked them: "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
With the great miracles that Jesus performed for the people, they thought God was a great prophet or a very talented and superior prophecy because He could do everything.
They wanted to praise Him and make Him king.
Those were human thoughts about the mystery of Jesus Christ, who is God who came to earth to become a human being.
At that moment, He asked His disciples: "But who do you say that I am?" Jesus wanted to ask His disciples, who were closest to Him, what they think about their Teacher.
When they were with Jesus, the disciples realized that He is the Almighty, the All-Powerful One, and the One who came to the world to save sinners, to save those who are suffering in body and soul.
Therefore, Saint Peter confessed: "You are Jesus Christ, the One who is to come into the world."When He learned of the disciples' faith and conviction that He was the Messiah who was to come into the world, He immediately forbade the disciples from revealing that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, because the time had not yet come.
Then, Jesus knew that His disciples were also thinking like the people, they believed that He was an earthly king. So, He immediately reminded the disciples that: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed."
As He faced the thoughts of the disciples and the people about Him as the king of the world, He wanted to remind them that God's way of coming to the world is not according to the way people think which is to gain glory and honor in the world.
But He wants them to aim for eternal life in the afterlife. To have eternal life, they will have to go through suffering on the cross like the Son of God. He voluntarily sacrificed Himself to die to redeem mankind.
In today's Word of God, God calls everyone
-To believe that Jesus Christ is God, who came to the world to redeem mankind.
-To become conformed to Jesus Christ, suffer with Him so that through the suffering of the cross, we will enter into glory, to have eternal life in His Father's Kingdom, which is the glorious Kingdom of Heaven in the future.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Opmerkingen