Sixty-second reflection - February 22

Today is the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle. In praying with the Gospel this morning, this is the verse that stood out to me, and here were some things that came to mind to think about today.

"For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father."

It wasn't a lucky guess. 

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

His answer was very specific. Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

Jesus said that no human revealed this to Peter. Because it was a spontaneous response, it seems pretty unlikely that Peter was just parroting back something Jesus told him or something that he had heard "on the street." And it wasn't just a lucky guess. He recognized Jesus for who he really was, and Jesus blessed him for it. Jesus's identity was revealed to Peter "and so." And so, Simon became Peter, and Jesus had a rock to build his Church on.

We don't have to guess about Jesus's identity either. We have the Holy Spirit, scripture, the Church, and the sacraments that all reveal who Jesus is, and what he is here for. And because we have Peter's profession of faith, we also have a ready answer that we can share with people who might not know him.  

Full readings here.