Fr Leslie Miranda
| | . | | Zech 12:10-11;13:1 Gal 3:26-29 Lk 9:18-24 | | June,20 | | 12th Sunday of the Year | | A bishop visited a parish because his nephew was one of the First Communicants. After mass His Lordship met all the First Communicants. He put to them the question, Who am I? He received no answer. So he told the children: “Surely the teacher told you that the Bishop would give you Holy Communion.” “Yes,” they chorused. “Now answer the question, Who am I?” Only one boy raised his hand up. “Yes, say who am I?” The boy answered: “You are a rascal.” The religious instructors were shocked. They asked the boy to say that he was sorry. He refused. He just pointed his finger at the Bishop and said, “He is a rascal. He robbed all my father’s marbles in school.” The bishop, it seems, was a former Principal of the school. He confiscated the marbles on the grounds of discipline. Yes, asking others, who am I, may not |
| be a wise question.
In today’s Gospel Jesus asks His disciples: “Who do the crowds say I am?” The answers were poor: “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah or one of the ancient prophets come back to life.” Not satisfied with the answers, Jesus pursues the question to find out the mind of His disciples, “But who do you say I am?” The important word in the question is you. What do you think? Yes, the knowledge of Christ is a personal discovery, not a handout statement given you by others. Peter, their spokesman, spoke up: “The Christ of God.”
“The Christ” is Greek for the “Anointed One”. Messiah is a Hebrew term with a similar meaning. Peter’s correct answer was a revelation, not a human discovery. Christ wisely brought an injunction on them, not to divulge to others the fact of His Messiahship. But why this ...Contd. | | |
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