Last night, I read this gospel
several times because I was trying my best to digest or absorb every word
contained in it and eventually I could grasp the message that God wanted to
convey to me. And then, as I paused for a little while to begin my reflection,
I noticed that a specific part of the gospel was kept on coming back into my
mind. I was struck by the very question of Jesus to Peter in which the latter
received a good remark from the former because of his godly-inspired response of
which according to Jesus, it was not human that has revealed it to him but his
Father in heaven.
It was already late in the
evening and so I decided to continue my reflection this morning. However, when
I drifted off to my bed and started to close my eyes to get some slumber, still
the striking question of Jesus was bothering me so that I could not sleep even
if I really wanted to. As if my conscience was telling me to give justice to
the gospel that I have just read, that I need to finish my reflection first
before going to sleep. And so I did. But it was only this morning that I was
able to put into writing my reflection. The previous night, I challenged my
very self by putting myself into the shoes of Peter. What if Jesus would ask me
the same question? Who do say I am? Would I get the same remark of Jesus to Peter?
While trying to recollect data
from my memory, apparently my mind was bombarded with so many descriptions
about Jesus Christ and adjectives that I can attribute to the Lord. As a matter
of fact, it was very tempting to me to just parrot or echo what I heard from
people talking about Jesus, whether they are believers or non-believers of him.
Common descriptions like Redeemer, Saviour, Son of Man, Lord, greatest Master,
etc. were floating in the air and they clouded my mind. To say the least, I had
the tendency to borrow the words written in the Sacred Scriptures. In fact,
that is the easiest and the most practical way to prove to the people that you
know Jesus but it is not for Christ.
If I have to qualify or
categorize that question, without bothering myself to reflect on it, I would
probably say that such question is very elementary, simple- chicken feed, as
they say! And why I would say so, it is because in my twenty two years of being
a Christian Catholic, I can confidently state that I am not ignorant of my
faith and belief on Jesus. I have more than enough knowledge regarding His life
considering the fact that I have been an active member of a particular
religious community for the past couple of years. Of course, I know that many
would refute that belonging to that group of people is not the measure of how
enormous is your knowledge about the person of Jesus. Nevertheless, my point is
such involvement graciously allows me to have ample time and receive numerous
opportunities to know more about Jesus.
However, when I delved into the
essence of the question and trying to foresee the implications of my answer, I
realized that such question of Jesus is extremely difficult to answer. Why?
Because that query has an implied or embedded subsequent questions in it. Like,
is your answer really true or real to you? Is your answer emanates from the
Father through the inspiration of His Holy Spirit or is it completely a product
of your human reason, motivated by the desire of getting a good impression from
somebody? Yes, you can have varied answers according to your preference.
However, an even harder question persists and that is the question of
authenticity. No one can fool the Lord not even the most intelligent man on
earth!
I have realized that our answer
to this question must be personal and genuine, that is based on our personal attachment
to or encounter with the Lord in our individual life. An answer that is a
by-product of our proper and sincere efforts in knowing the Lord profoundly,
through prayers and strict observance on His teachings, is the one that can be
surely considered as inspired by the Holy Spirit and hence, acceptable to the
Lord. Moreover, our answer to this question needs not to be spoken but rather
to be seen in the way we live. And that’s the best proof that you are true to
your faith!
Say for instance, as I checked
myself on how far I have grown in my faith, I found out that Jesus, after all
those years, has been the source of my hope and strength. He has been the light
that guides me out of the darkness. I have experienced a lot of ups and downs,
lows and highs and twists and turns, but still I was able to survive. In spite
of those misfortunes in life, I never experienced exhaustion or a dearth of
strength; I have never been hopeless because Jesus is my primary source of hope.
I have been drawing inspiration from Him.
With that experience of Jesus as
the source of strength and hope, I have this moral and spiritual responsibility
to give strength and shed hope to my neighbours since as a Christian, I must
imitate Christ on the way I knew Him. And if I fail to do so, then the
integrity of my being a Christian will be questioned.
To end this reflection of mine, I
encourage everyone to join me in my prayer of asking the Heavenly Father for
constant graces of perseverance, faithfulness and inspiration that would
sustain us in our innermost desire of following and imitating Christ.
Hopefully, with the grace of God,
we can be Jesus to others in our everyday living so that non-believers will be
convinced that our Lord is working in us, that he is alive through the way we
live. Consequently, it will pave the way to their conversion. Amen and amen!
ImissyouCshieyJ
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