My Dear Parishioners,

“But who do you say that I am?” Our Blessed Lord asked the question not for Himself, but for Peter, for the Apostles and for us.  With this question He invites Peter and us into the mystery of His life. The questions are meant to provoke Peter and provoke us into a response - a response that becomes a vocation to follow him.

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”  When Peter said what he said, he was not simply repeating mindlessly like a parrot what others had thought about Jesus.  It was a confession of faith that came from the deepest part of his being, because God had revealed it to him.  When precisely did the heavenly Father reveal this to Simon Peter?  Certainly when Jesus called Peter to be a fisher of men, choosing him to belong to him.  Later, when Peter saw how Jesus taught his disciples to pray — Our Father — it was a revelation: God has a Son!  And it is this man, Jesus is God’s Son! Peter made this profession of faith not only for the Church but also for the whole world!

But at the same time, it was a confession made by Peter for Peter also.  Peter had discovered in Christ the “Exceptional Presence” of someone who satisfies this deep thirst for life and for love in his heart.  In the person of Christ Peter had seen an exceptional Presence!  Peter’s confession is Peter’s heart-felt recognition of the exceptional presence of this man Christ.  Peter’s confession is also his adherence to this man Christ – not just to His teaching and His miracles, but He Himself.  From that moment on, Peter begins a new life – a new life in which Peter lives with the certainty and the trust and the confidence that this Man Christ is truly the One for whom his heart had been seeking.  From that moment on, Peter knew that, in the hours of darkness when his efforts would fail, Christ would still abide with him, for Christ’s power is greater than all his failures, and Christ’s Presence exceeds all that he dared to hope for, and Christ’s mercy is greater than all his sins and faults.  From that moment on, Peter lives in the certainty that only this Man Christ saves, that only Christ could save him.

But today Christ is also asking us this question, because He wants us to grow in holiness, that is, to be stronger and stronger in our friendship with Him, to be firmer and firmer in our conviction of who He is – for ourselves!  We must continually be unsettled by this question of Christ so that we will never settle for nothing less than Christ.

And our answering Him shall constitute the adventure of being human: the adventure of following Him, Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Following - this is what Christ asks of Peter and of us: the life of a disciple.  Following: this following is truly a life which consists of a daily encounter with the Lord who truly is our Companion, Who walks by our side, Who helps us with our victories, Who sustains us in our defeats, and Who sympathizes with our weaknesses.  And thus, this sequela, this following, is never based on an adhesion to a theory, or slavery to a human ideology.  This sequela, this following, is a fascination and an attraction to “an Exceptional Presence” which is as firm as rock, because it is Christ’s Presence, because it is Christ.