“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked Peter. Isn’t it the same question He asks each of his followers? I claim to be a follower, a disciple. So, what’s my answer? Don’t I want Him to change me so that I can know Him better, follow him more closely?
My response is yes, and the way to do so is to build greater trust and more compliance of faith in Him and in his teaching. Is that my attitude? Remember: Jesus gives each of his followers a vocation, a calling to follow Him, to assist Him in a personal, unique way in the mission the Father gave Him. “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done.”
In today’s Gospel I see that in addition to the personal call Jesus gives to each of his followers, he gave Peter and his successors the vocation to rule his Church. I am a member of his Church. So, part of my vocation is to support that Church by my prayers and actions, and he gives me the ideal model to do so, namely, St. Paul.
Resolve: I shall spend some time thanking Jesus for the invitation he has given me personally to be His companion in supporting the Church he founded, and I shall ask Saints Peter and Paul to pray that I might better know my vocation and to respond better to the Lord who has given it to me.