But Who Do You Say That I Am?

by John O' Connell

Our Lord Jesus Christ, after querying the disciples on who the crowds were saying that He was, asked them: "But who do you say that I am?" To which Simon Peter responded with the certainty of great faith, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (cf. Mt. 13-17; Mk. 8:27-29; Lk. 9:18-20). It was no mere academic quiz but a question of eternal life.

Still today no question is of greater import for us, for the Church, for the world. Was Christ a great Hebrew prophet, a reform-minded rabbi, a political revolutionary, a great humanitarian, the most Divine of human persons, a deluded madman; or is He the eternal Son of God incarnate, the Alpha and the Omega, our Redeemer and Savior? He poses the question to each one of us, "But who do you say that I am?" And with the grace of God we answer, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God."

We must not only correctly answer the question, but we must live the answer. That is, we must live our faith in Christ and His teachings. Sadly, two millennia after the birth of Christ, millions upon millions do not know who Jesus is. And more lamentably, there are all too many who profess Him only with their lips, while their hearts and actions lie elsewhere.

What is needed are Christians in every state of life willing to be intensely Christocentric in an increasingly egocentric and man-centric world. Holy Mother Church desires that her children respond to the call of Christ to proclaim, witness, and sacrifice for the Faith.

Let us resolve, with the aid of the Blessed Mother, to grow in faith, and also, to intensify our efforts to correspond to God's grace to live out the faith that He has so graciously bestowed upon us. ©

© 1997 Inter Mirifica

CORRECTION: The last issue of The Catholic Faith contained an editing error in Father Regis Scanlon's article, "The Tabernacle: Out of Sight, Out of Mind." On page 13, it is stated that "during the past few decades, too many pastors have been treating the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle like a symbol or inanimate relic instead of a living, physical human and Divine Person." The last part of the sentence should have read, "...instead of Jesus Christ-Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity."

-The Editors