Gospel for the 12st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Jesus: An Icon for Others or the Living One for You?
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (16, 13-20)
13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 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. 18 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. 19 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.” 20 Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.
Father Michele Sciotti's Commentary
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today, the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, falls during this very hot month of August, a time when summer vacations are gradually coming to an end. After the large crowds heading toward holiday destinations over the last few weeks, people are now slowly beginning to return home to resume their daily routines.
In all this coming and going, there is a common thread that we can use as a symbol, almost like a metaphor for our entire existence: the journey. For those who believe, earthly life is simply one stage of a great journey that once began in the mind and heart of God, and that will inevitably lead us back to God Himself. And it is precisely with this idea of a journey that I would like to begin my commentary on this Sunday's Gospel.
There are certain questions that you simply cannot ask at the beginning of a journey. First, you need to see, to walk, and to experience things firsthand. After a year spent celebrating the mysteries of Christ—from His birth to His Ascension—today Jesus stops us and puts us on the spot. He does not want to know how much we have studied, but how much we have truly understood. His question is not a matter of statistical curiosity; it is a "blood test" for our soul.
Jesus asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Today, people might still answer this question with admiration, but they keep a safe distance. For many, Jesus is a great prophet, a revolutionary who gave a voice to the poor, a free man whose freedom inspires others. But we must be careful: today we are witnessing a sort of literary and media parasitism. Jesus is everywhere: in movies, in scandalous novels, and on talk shows. People use Him to sell books or to make Him say whatever matches the ideology of the moment. He is present as an idea or a character, but He is absent as Lord. He is a Jesus who puts on a show, but does not shape lives. He is a Jesus in whom God is present, but who is not recognized as God.
If we look at higher cultural circles, the situation becomes even more unsettling. Jesus is the great absentee from the conversations that matter. In the dialogue between science and faith, people speak of an "Architect of the Universe," but they set the Man of Nazareth aside. In philosophy, abstract concepts are often discussed, but Jesus is not a concept: He is a historical fact, made of flesh and blood. Even in dialogues between different religions, His name is often left unsaid so as not to cause discomfort, all in the name of a misguided politically correct attitude. By going down this path, we have ended up creating a God without a face and a Christian faith without Christ. But a faith that claims to be Christian, yet fails to confess Jesus as the Son of God, is a faith that cannot overcome the world because it lacks the courage of Truth.
At this point, Jesus gets straight to the point. He turns to us, to you, and asks: “But who do you say that I am?” Here, you can no longer quote books. You cannot hide behind the decrees of Councils, Church definitions, or the lessons learned in Sunday school. To put it simply: you can no longer live on a secondhand faith!
Peter answers for everyone: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This is an answer we have learned by heart, one that we mechanically repeat in the Creed every Sunday. But we must remember that a truth merely repeated out of habit is a dead truth. If your answer is not an act of your own freedom, if it is not planted in your heart, it remains nothing more than a useless poem. Jesus is not looking for people who repeat words; He is looking for witnesses!
At the end of the Gospel passage, Jesus orders the disciples to tell no one. This is the so-called "messianic secret," which the Lord imposed on His followers at the time because the world was not yet ready to receive the revelation God was making of Himself through Jesus. This revelation would reach its highest moment on the Cross, when a pagan—the centurion—would fully reveal Jesus' identity using words very similar to those Peter used here.
Today, however, Jesus' command is reversed. To us, who have seen the Risen Lord, it is commanded to shout it out. This is not about making propaganda. It is about telling a society that is confused about Jesus that He is the deep meaning of history and of our very lives.
Each of us, dear brothers and sisters, must take this challenge home today: “Who is Jesus for me? What place does He hold in my daily life?” Let us not say it only with words. Let us show it with our lives, because Truth is never held prisoner when it finds a free heart ready to share it.
Praise be to Jesus Christ.