21st Sunday- A
Once a rich man announced to a crowd saying, "If any one swims across my swimming pool which is filled with sharks and alligators, I will give you anything you want." By then a man just jumped in the pool and was swimming as fast as he could, avoiding the sharks and alligators and reached the other side safely. The rich man looked at him and said, "you did well...my son, you did well" Now ask me anything you want and I will give it to you. I promise I will give you". The man said, "More than anything, I want to know who pushed me into the water." Once the famous writer Charles lamb said, "If Shakespeare were to come into the room, we would rise to do him honor and if Christ were to enter this room, we would kneel and bow before Him in worship. It's because He is God and Savior.
St. Paul to the Galatians says when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Only Son our Lord Jesus Christ, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. The historical profession of faith says that Jesus Christ was born at in Bethlehem at the time of king Herod the great and the emperor Augustus and was crucified under Pontius Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. He called every day and ordinary people to be His apostles and performed miracles and wonders in the name of God. He said, "The Father and I, are one. No one can go to the Father except through me".
As Christ came to the non-Jewish region of Caesarea Phillippi asked His disciples about what people thought about Him and then He looked at them and said, "what do you say that I am?" Then the great Simon Peter who comes forward in the name of all other disciples and says, "You are the Messiah, The only Son of God..."
Then Christ our Lord said to Simon, "O... Simon, son of Johnna, for flesh and blood cannot reveal this to you but by my Father in heaven. Mortal people cannot perceive and understand divine things unless it is given by the divine.
Our very coming to Church and church's Sacraments help us to enter deeply into the divine mystery and to know that Christ is the Messiah and the Only Son of God. The problem with the world today is the fools are certain of their conviction but spiritual and wise people are full of doubts.
We should every day join the apostles and say, "Jesus, you are the Son of God, the living Savior. You heal my sickness and restore to health. Because of you, I live, move and have my being. Thank you, Jesus, for making me your instruments". Yes, we should be certain of what we profess and believe.
As Simon Peter proclaimed the Christ was the living Messiah, Christ our Lord gave the keys to the kingdom of God. Key means responsibility. It is a special call to suffering and facing challenges. It is a special call to accept humiliation and criticism in the name of Christ and His kingdom.
It's a special call to preach and teach the kingdom of God. One day a spiritual Master went to a small village to preach the Good News and in the beginning, the whole town came to him to listen. But eventually one by one everybody went away from him. Then one day, he was alone standing and preaching. And a passerby looked at him and said, "Before you had people to preach and now there is no one and why are you still preaching?" The preacher said, " Before I preached thinking that people would change and now I preach so that they would not change me" As we are sharing the kingdom of God and His message, your own family members and friends will reject you but please remember, they do not reject the message but you who are better than they are. Rejection itself is a victory and let us spread the Good News.
We know that we are not given the keys to the kingdom of God but today we are the keys to the kingdom of God. And it's our responsibility to love and forgive others and it's our duty to help others to know God and enter into the kingdom of God because we are blessed and are privileged people to come to Church and celebrate Christ. Amen.
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