Daily Gospel Reflection for September 27, 2019

Today's Gospel: Luke 9:18-22 - Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul The question Jesus asks His disciples is an important one: "Who do you say that I am?" The question isn’t important because Jesus wants to know what they think of Him. It’s important because the disciples must be firm in their conviction that He is the Christ of God if they are going to follow Him. When they witness Christ’s crucifixion, when they are under great persecution, when they are called to leave everything behind to take the Good News to every nation … nothing short of Peter’s answer will suffice. Jesus asks us the same question. "Who do you say that I am?" Everything hinges on our answer. If our answer is that Jesus is a great man, a moving preacher, a wonder-worker, a philosopher, a social revolutionary, or a religious leader, then it's not enough. Non of those things will be enough when we are faced with temptation, pain, persecution, or disillusionment. Being a disciple is not easy. It’s not easy to turn from sin and be faithful to the teachings of Christ and the Church. It’s not easy to live counter-culturally and give public witness to our faith. It’s hard to live simply and give generously and not count the costs. It’s hard, too, to be faithful to the Church right now when we are confronted with the sins of its members. Our answer to that question – Who do you say that I am? – sustains us through it all. We persevere in faith, we rejoice in the cross, we have hope in eternal life because Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God.