Javier Castellanos, LC
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Christ, our King.
Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Lord Jesus, increase my faith and help me to live my mission as a member of your Body.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 16:13-19
At that time, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples this question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They answered him, “Some say that you are John the Baptist; others, Elijah; others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then he asked them, “And who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter spoke up and said to him, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of John, for this has not been revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven! And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church. The powers of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
It is no good answering what you have heard from others. That is a difficult question to answer even for the disciples, despite living with Jesus for a long time.
Peter's answer: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God, was a very bold confession. If the Pharisees had heard that, they would have stoned him to death; but Peter was able to speak the truth and nothing but the truth because God the Father himself inspired him.
As a result of this faith, Jesus conferred a power on Peter that belonged only to Him as Messiah. In Is 22:22 the prophet had already been inspired by God of what would happen at this time. “I will put on his shoulders the key of the house of David: what he opens no one shall shut, what he shuts no one shall open.”.
Jesus not only confirmed this power and this mission with His words, but He gave it to a weak man with all the consequences He knew would follow. Nevertheless, with this mission he gave him a promise: “The powers of hell shall not prevail over her”. The true Church of Jesus Christ is the Catholic Church, not because a man says so, but because from ancient times God the Father had it in mind, Jesus Christ confirms it with his words in the Gospel and until today we celebrate the chair of St. Peter, 266 successors have uninterruptedly guided the Church of Christ.
Let us have the firm hope that being Catholic does not mean only “practicing a religion”; to be Catholic is to belong to the same Body of Christ as St. Paul says in 1 Cor 12:12: “We are one body and Christ is the head” We are direct participants in the mission that God the Father has entrusted to Christ on Earth!
«Let grace mold our hearts anew to believe, and open our mouths to make the profession of faith and obtain salvation. Let us therefore make our own the words of Peter: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. Let our thoughts and eyes be fixed on Jesus Christ, the beginning and end of every action of the Church. He is the foundation and no one can lay any other foundation. He is the “stone” on which we must build. St. Augustine recalls this with expressive words when he writes that the Church, which, being shaken and shaken by the vicissitudes of history, “does not fall, because it is founded on the rock from which Peter took his name, for ‘rock’ does not come from ‘Peter’, but ‘Peter’ from ‘rock’; just as ‘Christ’ does not come from ‘Christian’, but ‘Christian’ from ‘Christ’. [...] The rock is the Messiah, the foundation on which Peter himself is also built”».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, February 22, 2016).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
Today I will commend in my prayer the Holy Father, Pope Francis.
Farewell
We thank you, Lord, for all your benefits, you who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
