When reading Scripture, I often place myself as a character in the verse I am reading. In this case, I put myself in Peter’s place, but to my surprise, this question stumped me. “Who do you say that I am?” I sat there staring at the words for a long time, unable to answer them accurately. Am I confident enough, like Peter, to be able to say, “You are the Christ”? I’ve come so far in my spiritual journey in responding to this question, yet it always makes me pause when presented with it. Who do I say that Jesus is?
First, I must be willing to allow Christ to define Himself and not project who I want Him to be. I have to be open to understanding Jesus’ true identity through the Holy Spirit, as Peter did, and not seek to set earthly parameters. My spiritual director has teased me on more than one occasion saying that I am willing to love Jesus entirely and surrender my life to him, but first I want “a prenuptial agreement.”
That is partly my struggle with anxiety and partly due to the fact that identifying who Christ is to me personally was foreign for so much of my life. Christ was on the cross, and I appreciated his salvific work, but he was not in my heart. I could see, yet did I believe? Or was I like the father of the child in Mark’s Gospel (9:24) who “cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’” In addition, Jesus did not have to worry about me telling people who He was; not only was I not really clear myself back then, but I was also of the ‘faith is private’ mindset.
What changed all that uncertainty and closed-lippedness to get me where I am today—blogging, speaking, radio broadcasting, yelling from the rooftops that Jesus is the Christ? Three simple things: prayer, Scripture, and embracing a sacramental life. Scripture came first; the other two naturally followed as I got to know Christ more. The more I read and learned about the greatness of God and His Only Son, the more I wanted to be in communication with him and therefore, my prayer life grew. As my time in prayer with Christ grew, I wanted to be in even closer communion. I could only find that in the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist – received in the liturgy and adored in the Blessed Sacrament – and Reconciliation.
Like St. Peter, without the Holy Spirit’s intervention, I could never know that Jesus is Christ, “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” I needed to spend time with Jesus and get to know him, and only then could I make the statement with Peter’s conviction. The more I know, the more I love, and the more I can not only say along with Peter, “You are the Messiah,” I can also proclaim “You are my Messiah, my Savior!”
Daily Reading
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings for the Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin Reading 1 1 Kgs 19:4-8 Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath…
Saint of the Day
Saint Clare of Assisi
Saint Clare of Assisi was one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares.
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