From The Deacon’s Desk September 12, 2021

Dear Friends:

The Scriptures in today’s Mass are full of things to think about. So I thought the best thing to do is to pick a small part of the Gospel of Mark 8:27-35 and see what we come up with.

As Jesus and his disciples are traveling to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked “Who do people say that I am?”  The disciples answer “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked them the loaded question, “But who did you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ.” When Peter answers this, Jesus knows he has made progress with the Apostles and God has begun to enter their lives.

The obvious question is to ask ourselves is who do we say Jesus is? Do we truly believe Jesus is the Messiah? Do we truly believe Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist under the forms of bread and wine? Do we truly believe Jesus is the Son of God? Is Jesus more to us than just a friend we go to when we need a favor? Is Jesus more to us than just a devotion? Does Jesus take precedent in our lives?

These are very difficult questions. I think it will take some discernment to come to a reasonable answer. The most important thing we can do is to think about what Jesus is saying to us and ask him to help us to figure out where we need to be in our journey toward union with him. This will not be accomplished overnight. Most likely it will take a long time, maybe even our entire lives. But oh what a life it will be!

Peace and All Good!

Deacon Jim