"But who do you say that I am?": 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

Today we have unbelievable communication

·      Telephone with a cord

·      Telephone without a cord

·      Cell phones

·      Emails, AOL, facebook, twitter, 

Now imagine what Jesus and his disciples were communicating what today we call Israel

·      Talking with each other, or sending messages via a camel, horse or donkey

“Jesus and his disciples set outfor 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.’”

·      Now here is a question…how did this occur without technology that we have today?

·      In my mind, his name was going through village to village, the largest places (Jerusalem) and places like Caesarea Philippi

·      So, Jesus name was like a fire blown through people, knowing something new, and possibly the Jewish savior

So Jesus asked his followers his question, 

·      “But who do you say that I am?"

·      “Peter said to him in reply,‘You are the Christ.’”

o   This one word: Christ is huge

o   Now, Christ in Hebrew is mashiac, Greek, Christo, the anointed one, the messiah, the savior

o   God

Before my last question, listen again from Isaiah and Jesus spoke about Christ himself which was a pivot from what the Israelites and even the disciples thought was coming: a victory of Israel as a general, leader and power

·      Isaiah: “I gave my back to those who beat me,my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;my face I did not shieldfrom buffets and spitting…I have set my face like flint,knowing that I shall not be put to shame.”

·      Mark: “He began to teach themthat the Son of Man must suffer greatlyand be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,and be killed, and rise after three days.”

Today, I have heard similar things like the disciples heard: John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets, but now I hear that Jesus is a prophet, a teacher, a philosopher, a guru, another

But like us today, “Who do you say that [Jesus] is”?

I believe that he is still Jesus Christ, our savior, who offered victory, not in a human war, not a rising in our jobs, not in winning for money

Jesus Christ open the door for true victory: our souls to make it to heaven