Matthew 16: 13-19
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
The Gospel Expands the Circle of Belonging
For nearly ten years, I worked at the Jesuit Curia in Rome. From my office, I could hear Pope Francis address pilgrims gathered for his Wednesday audience.
In the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica, it was easy to forget that Peter was a working-class man from an occupied land. A Church that now spans centuries, continents, and cultures was entrusted not to elites or emperors, but to a fisherman from the margins of the Roman Empire.
This is an important reminder as we consume daily news steeped in exclusion, racism, nationalism, and sexism. These narratives reduce people to categories and tempt us to divide the world into citizens and foreigners, insiders and outsiders, those who look like us and those who do not. Yet the Jesus whom Peter recognizes in today’s Gospel transcends categories and expands the circle of belonging beyond what we can imagine.
If we remain open to grace, perhaps we too—ordinary people like Peter—will see what he saw: a God bigger than borders, fears, politics, and even the most awe-inspiring architectural wonders upon this spinning planet.
—Jill Drzewiecki is the executive director of Casa Romero Renewal Center, bringing nearly three decades of faith-based experience accompanying displaced persons to advance the center’s mission.
Prayer
Loving Creator,
We pray that our faith in your loving Kin(g)dom* be steadfast and true, and that when called to testify on its behalf, we answer the call with conviction, as did Peter, the ordinary man whose faith anchored your Church.
We pray that you open our hearts and our minds to your call, as you did Peter’s, and that we honor and follow it wherever it may lead, no matter the difficulty or uncertainty.
And we pray that our hands and our works do justice to your call, to build, step by step, day-by-day, the Kin(g)dom of God among our brothers and sisters.
*a rearticulation that gendered associations and a reminder that we belong to one family.
—Jill Drzewiecki