REFLECTIONS TODAY

Pope Benedict XVI begins his first encyclical with a lapidary statement, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Deus Caritas Est, 1). 

It is not simply knowing Jesus from books; it is not simply looking at Christianity as a theory, a philosophy, or an idea. Rather, it is a personal encounter with Jesus who is alive. 

In one way or another, we are asked by Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?” In the Gospel, the crowd is said to see Jesus as a prophetic figure, with hints that he might be the precursor of the messianic era. 

Jesus then turns to the “insiders,” those closest to him, and in their name, Peter says that he is the Christ or the Messiah. Their confession of faith is correct, but they have only a partial understanding, for the mystery of Jesus’ messiahship will involve suffering and death. 

Only then will they truly understand that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might… have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). 

The Jewish rabbis know the Law of Moses, the dogmas and morals. They do not have faith because their hearts are far from God. In a similar vein, our knowledge of Jesus should come not only from books or sermons, but from our encounter with his mercy and his love, in our daily struggle to be good and faithful men and women.

First Reading • Gn 9:1-13 

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth. 

Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered. 

Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants. Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat… God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 

“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: the birds, the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” 

God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come: of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” 

Responsorial Psalm • Ps 102 “From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.”

Gospel • Mark 8:27-33 

Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 

They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” 

And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” 

Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. 

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.