Message from Fr. Brito:

Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles and Martyrs

     In today’s Gospel the Lord Jesus asks his disciple two questions. This first: “WHO DO PEOPLE SAY THAT THE SON OF MAN IS? They begin to him tell him what people are saying, “some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Elijah or one of the other prophets”. After hearing these responses he asks his disciple and at the same time he asks us: “But who do you say the Son of Man is?” This is the core question of our faith. Who is Jesus and what do you personally believe. How we answer this question will reveal our faith and our understanding of our faith.

     So where do we begin. Well the man, we know as Simon Peter, will answer the question on behalf of the others. Without the explicit explanation of Jesus’ proclamation of who he is, and based on the evidence he has seen and all that he has experienced of Jesus, the Apostle Peter proclaims, “you are the Christ the Son of the living God” This is the Faith of Peter and it is the Faith of the Catholic Church. In fact this proclamation of faith and the proclaimer of this faith tied together as one is the Rock on which the Lord Jesus builds his Church.

      By the power of the Holy Spirit Peter proclaims this truth, “you are the Christ the Son of the living God”.  Jesus makes reference to this when after Peter’s proclamation of Faith says: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my heavenly Father.” Jesus is the True Rock, but Peter by the proclamation of Jesus is the Rock that Jesus first lays in order to build his Church.

The Church that Jesus built has stability to endure the storms of the ages. Jesus Proclaims this stability when he says: And I say to you. you are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld will shall not prevail against it”

     We as Catholic Christians have a gift from Christ Jesus himself to guide and teach us and feed us along our journey to heaven.  That Gift we call holy mother Church. And yes it is organized, because Jesus was all about putting things back in order. The Church has the promise of Jesus that Truth will always be found in her. The reason why the world hates the Catholic Church is that it hates the truth. That why Jesus was compared to the prophets of old, like the Prophets Jesus proclaimed the truth even when it was not popular or politically correct.

Amen