Readings:
1st Reading; Acts 12 : 1 – 11.
Responsorial Psalm; Ps. 33: 2 – 9.
2nd Reading;2 Timothy 4 : 6 – 8 , 17 – 18
Gospel; Matthew 16 : 13 – 19

Our Calender shows that today is dedicated to first two apostles who were the foundation of the Church – Peter and Paul. These two had great influence on the early Church. One called from his humble background – Peter the fisherman and the other converted from persecuting the early Christians. Both got up from their knees and walked everywhere talking about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. 

In our first reading, we hear the miraculous liberation of Peter from prison, when Herod had scheduled to kill him. The angel of the Lord freed him because of his faith and that of those who were praying for him. This reminds us of our own miraculous escapes from our own ‘Herods’, who lay snares everywhere for us. Sometimes they even trap us, yet we get freed and get along with our life of faith. We are called to witness to others about these liberation angel who frees us from our troubles each time we are overwhelmed with despair in our human frailty. 

Paul reminds us in the second reading that we will ‘fight a good fight’ and come free of the chains and bondage of the devil, if we ‘keep the faith’. Again , he calls us to witness to the world around us the marvels of our liberation. 

Our Gospel tells us that we can only keep the faith, when we accept that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. When Peter gives the right answer to Jesus’ question, Jesus does not only affirm, but raises Peter to be in-charge and even gives him the keys of Heaven. When we recognise and accept Jesus as Peter did, we also receive our own prizes – prizes that open our way to Heaven. 

We realise that both Peter and Paul are given tasks to serve others. Like them we are called to preach, reveal,  encourage,  instruct, reconcile,, bless, correct, serve, confront, challenge and even lay down our lives for believing. It is this faith that leads, guides, and directs us toward the Kingdom of God. It is it that should act as our navigator toward our creator. As Christians, this faith should be demonstrated in daily actions.

 One Christian leader, Cardinal Newman, once asked his congregation to ponder on what Jesus meant to them and what difference being a Christian made in the way they lived their daily lives. He asked ‘ Is it the case that there is nothing we resolve, nothing we do or do not do,  nothing we avoid or choose, nothing we give up or take up which we would not resolve, or do, or choose or give up if Jesus had not died and if Heaven were not promised us?’ ‘I really fear’, he went on, ‘that most of those who call themselves Christians, would go almost as they do, if they believed Christianity to be nothing more than a fable’.

 A glaring example is that so much of our lives are spent in keeping other people out. We have private rooms, private cars, private houses, private clubs and so on. Of course, there are times when everybody needs to be alone. Yet there is a sense in which our size as human beings can be measured by the circles we draw to take other people in or out. The smaller the circle, the smaller the person. 

A strong person isn’t afraid of people who are different from himself. This phobia does not only retard your thinking and makes you mean, but closes you up to avenues of growth. By shutting others out, you deny yourself the riches of other people’s experience. You starve your mind and harden your heart.  A wise person welcomes them. When a wise man names his brothers and sisters, he draws no circle smaller than the first one ever drawn on the earth. In the beginning, God gave the earth its shape. He included everybody. As Christians, so should we. 

A Little Prayer. 

Lord Jesus, I believe and profess that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. You are my Saviour who has set me free from the snares of the devil and from my sins. Make my faith strong like Peter’s and give me the courage and boldness like Paul’s, to speak of you to others that they may come to recognise you as the saviour of the world. Amen.

 Have a Wonderful Week.

Bobe Talla Toh