September 28th, 2018

Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
453

FIRST READING
ECCL 3:1-11

There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every thing under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.

What advantage has the worker from his toil?
I have considered the task that God has appointed
for the sons of men to be busied about.
He has made everything appropriate to its time,
and has put the timeless into their hearts,
without man’s ever discovering,
from beginning to end, the work which God has done.

PSALM
PS 144:1B AND 2ABC, 3-4

Response: Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!

Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
my mercy and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust.

LORD, what is man, that you notice him;
the son of man, that you take thought of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days, like a passing shadow.

GOSPEL
LK 9:18-22

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Daily Reflection

28th September 2018

‘Who do you say I am?’ Jesus asks a question that perplexes his disciples. They follow him because of what they hear and see, because they feel the magnetism of his call, because there is something about him which they can’t quite put their finger on. So, when faced with having to provide a definite answer, they resort to what others say: Elijah, John the Baptist, one of the Prophets risen from the dead. It is only Peter who declares, ‘You are the Messiah of God’ - an insight and knowledge that comes from God alone.

Jesus goes on to tell the disciples to keep this knowledge to themselves; he prepares them for his passion and resurrection which is to follow. The Messiah is not a triumphant Messiah but one who will suffer and embrace that suffering for our salvation.

As professed followers of Jesus, we need to answer his question for ourselves: ‘Who do I say Jesus is?’ When we acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, we also acknowledge that we are prepared to witness even in the shadow of the cross.