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They were surrounding him. They were simple people: his
disciples, fishermen, people who did not think very much of
themselves. People nobody thought very much of. Nobody ever
asked their opinions. Nobody ever paid much attention to what
they thought or felt. The people who mattered looked down on
them. They smelled of fish. The smell came out of their hair and
out of their clothing.
And now Jesus whom they had followed as their model, whom
they had imitated like children, whom they were surprised to be
allowed to follow, asked them, “What name would you give me?
Who do you people say that I am?”
They could not believe their ears. It was impossible that he
was asking for their opinion. That is why they started telling him
what the scribes, the priests, the Pharisees, the political leaders,
and the important ones were saying. They answered, “They say,
those other ones say that you are John the Baptizer, others say
Jeremiah, others Elijah, and again others, one of the prophets.”
Then he said, “But you, who do you say I am?” They looked
at one another. Was he really going to pay attention to what they
thought? Again they looked at one another. They nudged Peter,
who was obviously their leader, and he said, “I know who you
are, we know who you are. You are the Messiah, you are the Son
of the Living God.”
And then Jesus said something strange. He said, “Peter, how
blessed you are because you do not say that of yourself. What
you said came from God, God in you.”
What Jesus said of Peter, he also said to us. I pray that we
believe that Jesus is the Messiah. I pray that we believe that Jesus
is the Son of God. I hope that is the reason we come together
today.
That same God who was in Peter must be in us. We are
charged with God’s spirit. We are full of the Son’s spirit. God is
in us.
A lot of us have the bad habit of thinking of ourselves as
totally negative, as non-participants in so many affairs, as in a
sense, good-for-nothing. Just like the early disciples thought of
themselves.
Others are important – others are leading the world. We forget
the good in us – we forget God in us. We overlook our potential
– our dignity.
I read about an African Bishop, who was described as a
contemporary saint by TIME magazine. He was from Tanzania.
Bishop Christopher said we need two types of confessional boxes
in our churches, some at the right side and some at the left side.
In the left ones, you confess your sins, getting as a penance to go
to the right side with the obligation to confess honestly the good
you did, the good in you, the God in you. That is what Jesus said
of Peter. Blessed are you, Peter. God is with you. That is what I
say to you. God is with you – in you. Don’t forget it! Live like
you believe it. Blessed are you!