21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
27th August 2023 (Sunday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 1
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Isaiah 22:19-23
Thus says the Lord to Shebna, who is over the household: “I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honour to his father's house.
Psalm 138:1-2a, 2bcd-3, 6 and 8bc (R. 8bc)
R/. O Lord, your merciful love is eternal; discard not the work of your hands.
Second Reading: Romans 11:33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Matthew 16:13-20
At that time: When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: Faith is Intimacy
Guidlines: Learning and knowing more and more about Jesus is very good and needed. But it will not suffice. All our knowledge must lead to a personal experience of Jesus{alertSuccess}
1. “Who do you say that I am?” was the question of Jesus to his disciples. This is not a question for self-knowledge or self-boost. This is also not a search for the discovery of self-identity. The purpose is to make them aware of his true identity. It is to make them aware of who he is to them.
2.The question, “Who do you say I am?” becomes more important than the question, “Who do people say I am?” Personal encounter with Jesus, personal experience of him, and relationship with him are greater priorities than all the knowledge about him from others and various sources.
3.The purpose of knowing the identity of Jesus is not intellectual but experiential and relational and thus personal. I will try to know who Jesus is because I want to experience who he is to me personally. I will discover his identity so that I can discover my own identity and live it.
4.I will realize that my identity is only in relation to his identity. My identity ceases if it loses its essential connectivity to the Lord’s identity. I will not be who I am if I do not experience who he is.
5. If I really know and experience him, then I must become like him. I must put on his mindset. I must set my mind on the things of God, and not on the things of the world. Like Christ, my core identity of belonging to him as his disciple must be seen and shown in doing the same mission. And this mission essentially includes suffering and the way of the cross. Anything that contradicts and resists this way of the Lord is satanic.
Practice: All our increase in the knowledge of Christ and familiarity with the Bible is something praiseworthy. However, all this is worth it if only it leads us to a deeper experience of the Lord and commitment to him{alertSuccess}
Read More
Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection August 22, 2023
Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection August 23, 2023
Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection August 24, 2023