“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”
21st SUNDAY (A)
August 23, 2026
Isaiah 22: 19-23; Romans 11: 33-36; Matthew 16: 13-20
By: Jude Siciliano, OP
Dear Preachers:
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When Jesus asked Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” he wasn’t asking Peter to recite a series of doctrines about his identity. He wasn’t inviting him to recite the Nicene Creed we recite at Sunday Mass. That would come later when the Christian community had to address questions that had developed among its communities and when church teaching was challenged in the new lands where it had spread. The creeds and formulas would be necessary – but later.
No, Jesus was not asking Peter to work out a Christological formula. That’s clear from the beginning of the question, “But you...?” Jesus was inviting Peter to express his own faith. Does he believe in Jesus and what does he believe about Jesus? From his experience of Jesus and through the gift of God’s grace, Peter has come to know that Jesus is the revelation of God to the world. He articulates what the church has come to believe about Christ. The articles of that faith will be developed and taught to inquirers: but first comes Peter, expressing his faith and the faith of the first-generation Christians.
Other followers of Christ will have to answer the same question and pass on that faith to their children and those to whom they preach. They will announce to anyone who will listen – who Jesus is and what difference he made in their lives. The creeds will emerge, but the teachings will have little meaning if people have not, in one way or another, answered the question Jesus asks us today, “But who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus isn’t just asking us if we go to church on Sunday; if we send out children to religious education classes or say grace before meals. First of all, he invites us to acknowledge our belief in him and to bear witness to his love and manner of living in the world.
Those who know us usually can detect our preferences. If we say we are big Atlanta Braves fans but never watch a game, wear a team insignia or know who plays first base – people will begin to wonder. If we say we love to read, but all we talk about at social gatherings are the evening tv shows and soaps – people will begin to wonder. If we say we are very concerned about the environment, but never recycle, drive a gas guzzler and keep all the lights on in our homes – people will begin to wonder.
If we say we are Christians, yet there is little that signifies Jesus has made any difference in our lives – people will begin to wonder. If we insist our children must go to church with us, but at home they hear us use racial slurs, utter stereotypical comments about the poor and immigrants and gossip about people in our church – our children will begin to wonder: “Are my parents (grandparents, uncles, or aunts) really Christians, or do they just go to church?” “But who do you say I am?” Jesus asks us today. What response to the question does our life reveal to those observers around us?
Jesus’ question isn’t just asked of us as individuals. It is posed to our church as well. If our Christian community fits comfortably into the society around it; never raises an objection to public discriminatory policies; never speaks up to represent those who have little power, or no voice; welcomes only those who look and act like the established members; is more fussy about ritual and decorum and less concerned about newcomers and how to welcome them and incorporate them into our community and its rituals, then when Jesus asks us, “Church, who do you say that I am?” in reality our answer is, “You are an admirable leader and teacher and a good role model – and that’s it.”
Peter voiced the faith the early church had in Jesus. It was to be the message they proclaimed, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Those who accepted that message professed their faith in God’s unique presence and revelation manifested in Christ. In accepting Jesus as “the Son of the living God,” and receiving the grace God offered them in Christ, they agreed to change their ways. Jesus was more than a role model for believers. In him God offered humanity the grace to live Christ’s life of love and service – especially to serve those Jesus served, the least in the eyes of society.
In response to Jesus’ initial question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Peter responds, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” People may have had differing opinions, but they seem to have agree that they saw Jesus in the line of the great prophets. His words and life had revealed to them that he must be speaking with the authority of God. High praise indeed! But Jesus disregards those opinions and asks the question more directly to his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Jesus says Peter’s response, that Jesus is the Son of God, is not a conclusion mortals can attain on their own. We cannot come to the faith we profess at the Eucharist without being called and gifted by God. That gift of sight is something to give thanks for at this celebration.
The faith Peter and the disciples come to profess in Christ should not be kept to themselves. They must not form a secretive and isolated sect that will strive to avoid contamination from the world. Quite the opposite. Peter speaks the faith of the post-resurrection church. This is the faith Jesus will send them out to proclaim. Peter will bear the keys, like Eliakim in our first reading, who carried “the key of the House of David.” Peter will have the mission of stewardship to lead the early church by his preaching, teaching, example and his ultimate martyrdom.
Peter’s faith will be accepted by many and those who profess it will be strengthened as they face persecution; the long wait for Jesus’ return; internal conflicts that would shake the church to its foundation and pastoral disputes. Peter and the disciples will be instructed to do as Jesus did for them; to be a servant church and wash the feet of others. Their task will be to lead others to accept Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and to sustain and serve the community as its members attempt to live out the faith in the One they profess.
Jesus said he would build his church on rock. Sometimes it feels that the church is less on rock and more on sand. We have all sorts of divisions that distract our energies and create an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust. It doesn’t feel like a rock-solid church, does it? A quick survey of our history reminds us that we aren’t going through anything those before us didn’t also go through in one way or another. From the very beginning we have had both saints and sinners among our popes, bishops, priests, religious and laity. At times it is very discouraging. At those low moments, when we feel our dreams and ideals are under siege, we might want to repeat as a mantra what Jesus promised, “...the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it.”
We give praise today that, despite our less-than stellar performance as the people of God, Christ has not abandoned us. We can praise God today for the prophetic leaders we have had in our past and have today who: speak out against war and the death penalty; defend innocent and unborn life; protect the rights of those displaced by famine and civil war; provide shelter for the homeless and abused, etc. In our church, while there are signs of our shaky faith, there are also ample reminders that Christ is very much with his church. Just as he promised he would be.
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