"Who do You Say that I Am?"

In this past Sunday’s Gospel for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, we see Jesus asking the apostles about who people say that He is. They answer John the Baptist, Elijah, or another one of the prophets. But then Jesus asks them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answers that He is the Christ, the son of the living God. While this is of course true, this question can have many answers, often different for each of us. Who, or what, is Christ primarily to us? Do we see Him as a judge or as a friend? Is He a comforter or a refuge? Sometimes we may not see Him as the loving God that we know intellectually that He is, and reflecting on who Jesus is to us can help us pinpoint our relationship with Him and any obstacles to it being a healthy one.

Our perception of Jesus and of God as our Father can be shaped by our experiences in life and the relationship that we have with our earthly father. If it’s a complicated one, it may be difficult to imagine that God is a loving Father that wants the best for us and that Jesus can be a true friend, comforting us and giving us the strength that we need to be faithful to Him and love Him. We must remember, though, the words of David in Psalms 27:10, “Even if my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me in.” Jesus will always be there for us, even when others fail us. Our religious upbringing can also shape our view of God, depending on what was emphasized to us about Him in our instruction. Did we hear a lot about God’s mercy and love, or was it His judgment that we remember hearing about the most? Reflecting on these things will help us see where our relationship with Jesus might be suffering and where we need to ask for His help.

Turning to our Blessed Mother can also be a huge help, for She is the one who knows Jesus the best and who can lead us to a more perfect understanding of Who He is and how much He loves us. When we let Her guide us and reflect on Her relationship with Her Son, seeing the way She interacts with Him can give us guidance for our own relationship with Him and we can also ask Her to open our hearts and minds to see Jesus for Who He truly is and to learn to trust Him as a refuge and friend.

“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks that question of us also and He wants us to open up to Him so that He can be our comforter and our refuge, our friend and confidante. We only need to let Him in and acknowledge Him as the One Who loves us and wants the best for us.