Pray Reflect Grow with the Sunday Readings
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First Reading Isaiah 22:19-23
I place the key of the House of David on my servant’s shoulder
Thus says the Lord of Hosts to Shebna, the master of the palace:
I dismiss you from your office,
I remove you from your post,
and the same day I call on my servant
Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
I invest him with your robe,
gird him with your sash,
entrust him with your authority;
and he shall be a father
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and to the House of Judah.
I place the key of the House of David
on his shoulder;
should he open, no one shall close,
should he close, no one shall open.
I drive him like a peg
into a firm place;
he will become a throne of glory
for his father’s house.
Second Reading Romans 11:33-36
All that exists comes from him; all is by him and from him.
How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything? All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.
Gospel Matthew 16:13-20
You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
Reflection Questions
- Service or Status: The ‘master of the palace’ carried another well-known title: ‘keeper of the keys’. He wore the key to the palace door on his shoulder for all to see — a sign that he had access to the king and could act in the king’s name. Shebna used this office for his own status and power. Now God removes him and gives the keys to faithful Eliakim, driven ‘like a peg into a firm place’. [Q]: Where has authority been entrusted to you — do you carry it as service, or as status?
- From Problems to Praise: Paul comes to the end of a long and painful wrestling with God over why his own people could not accept Jesus. After all his arguing he finishes not with an answer but with praise: ‘How rich are the depths of God… how impossible to penetrate his motives!’ He hands the whole struggle over to the mystery of how God works. [Q]: What unresolved struggle, or unanswered ‘why’, do you need to hand over to God today?
- Who Do You Say I Am: Jesus leads his disciples north to Caesarea Philippi, a place which had 5 large shrines to Roman emperors and pagan gods – including the Temple of the Dancing Goat! Against that backdrop of a religious ideas and things to worship, he turns and asks them — and us — the question that matters most: ‘But you, who do you say I am?’ Imagine standing in that scene. There are so many ‘gods’ to ‘worship’, but Jesus is asking you where he ‘fits’? [Q]: How would you answer him, honestly, today?
- You Are The Christ: Simon’s reply joins two titles; ‘The Christ’ is the long-awaited Messiah promised to save God’s people; ‘Son of the living God’ names the unique relationship Jesus has with the Father. He is not simply another prophet — John, Elijah, Jeremiah — but uniquely one with God. [Q]: Would you say you ‘know about’ Jesus, or that you ‘know’ him? Is your faith second-hand, or grounded in a personal encounter?
- ‘Cephas’ — Rock: was not a known Jewish name; it was a striking image once reserved for God alone. Joined to the ‘keys of the kingdom’, Peter is given a real teaching authority for the time when Jesus is no longer physically present. Binding and loosing speak of God reclaiming the world from evil and setting it in order. [Q]: How do you relate to authority in the Church — do you receive this gift of Jesus positively, or negatively?
- Action: [Q]: What is one action that you will do to ‘livingtheword’ this week?
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