REFLECTIONS TODAY
Jesus speaks of building his Church (ekklesia), not a material building but a community of believing disciples. Chosen to be its unshakable foundation, Simon is renamed Kepha (Peter), an Aramaic term for an entrenched rock.
The Church will be made up of members of a new community that will be empowered to continue Jesus’ mission. It will be so powerful that “the gates of the netherworld [not hell, but the abode of the dead] shall not prevail against it” (v 18) until the final resurrection. Simon Peter is chosen not because of his own capacities but by the pure grace of God who reveals to him that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ.
The power will not spare Simon from failure, but he will rise up. Because Jesus prays for Simon, even if his faith fails—as when he denies Jesus during the passion— he will turn back and will strengthen his brothers (Lk 22:32). Simon Peter would play a leading role in the first Christian community in Jerusalem.
First Reading • Acts 12:1-11
In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also. It was the feast of Unleavened Bread. He had him taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him before the people after Passover. Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf.
On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.”
So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading out to the city, which opened for them by itself. They emerged and made their way down an alley, and suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter recovered his senses and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.”
Gospel • Matthew 16:13-19
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024.”E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.