When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’
‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’
Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’
Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’
Gospel for Solemnity of St Peter and Paul
Matthew 16:13-19
Jesus asks questions about who he is, but an equal issue in the narrative is who Peter is.
Faith appears in many ways to be about our understanding and relationship with God, but it also helps us to a deeper understanding of who we are and what we are called to be.
Stained glass. Saint Germain l’Auxerrois, Paris. Photograph(c) 2018, Allen Morris.
Reblogged this on St Nicholas, Boldmere.
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