By Vicky Lamin Gayang csc –
Readings: Acts 12: 1-11; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 17-18; Mt 16:13-19
“What do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am?” These are the two simple but important questions that Jesus poses to you and me today.
To be able to give a definite answer to the question of Jesus who really is for me, we are invited to know him first by reading the word of God every day and most importantly to have a close and personal relationship with him through prayer and contemplation. We must also remember that reading the word of God alone is not enough. We also need to actualize it in our daily lives.
In fact, many of us know about Jesus from our childhood through our parents, catechism, priest, friends, books, and movies. But all these will not give us a definite answer ‘who Jesus is for me’. To find the answer one must have a close relationship with the person of Christ. The closer we are to Jesus, the more will we be able to know who he really is.
Pope Francis once said, “To know Jesus means to encounter him. It is necessary to get to know Jesus in our encounter with him in prayer. To pray is to get involved with him. If we do not pray, if we do not have a personal encounter with him, then we do not know him. We will know only things about Jesus but not Jesus himself”. Unless we have a relationship with God we cannot share, preach or give Jesus to others.
The two questions of Jesus invite us today to examine our personal relationship with him. Let us ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us to come closer to Jesus so that we may become effective in giving him to others.