Come Holy Spirit Series
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Come Holy Spirit |
Come Holy Spirit: Walking with Jesus in
Ordinary Time
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time — Year A
The Holy Spirit Helps Us Recognise Who
Jesus Really Is
Introduction
Each week in this series we return to
one simple question:
What is the Holy Spirit doing in this
Sunday's Gospel?
This week Jesus asks His disciples a
question.
At first, it seems straightforward:
“Who do people say that the Son of Man
is?”
The disciples have plenty of answers.
John the Baptist. Elijah. Jeremiah. One
of the prophets.
But then Jesus makes the question
personal:
“But you, who do you say I am?”
Suddenly, it is no longer about what
other people think.
It is about relationship.
Peter answers:
“You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God.”
And Jesus tells him something
remarkable. Peter has not reached this understanding simply through human
reasoning. Something has been revealed to him.
Here we discover the quiet work of the
Holy Spirit: He opens our hearts to recognise who Jesus truly is.
The Gospel
“But you, who do you say I am?”
— Matthew 16:15
This may be one of the most important
questions Jesus ever asks.
Not:
Who does your parish say I am?
Not:
Who does the Church say I am?
Not even:
Who did you learn that I am?
But:
Who do YOU say I am?
Our answer cannot remain borrowed
forever.
Eventually faith becomes personal.
What Is the Holy Spirit Doing in This
Gospel?
The Holy Spirit is leading us beyond
information about Jesus into recognition of Jesus. Peter had spent considerable time with
Christ.
He had:
- heard
His teaching,
- witnessed
His miracles,
- watched
Him heal,
- eaten
with Him,
- travelled
with Him.
Yet knowing facts about Jesus and
recognising His true identity are not quite the same thing. Peter suddenly sees
more deeply:
“You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God.”
Jesus responds:
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”
Faith involves reason, learning and
listening. But ultimately, recognising Jesus as Lord is also grace.
The Holy Spirit draws back the veil.
He takes what we have heard about Jesus
and allows it to move from the head into the heart.
The Jesus we have heard about becomes
the Jesus we know.
Walking with Jesus This Week
Perhaps we have known about Jesus for
many years.
We may know the Gospel stories.
We may know our prayers.
We may attend Mass faithfully.
We may be able to recite the Creed.
All of these things matter deeply.
But this week's Gospel asks something
more personal:
Who is Jesus to me today?
Our answer may change and deepen
throughout our lives.
At one stage Jesus may be the Teacher.
At another, the Healer.
At another, the Friend who walks beside
us.
At another, the One we cling to when
everything else feels uncertain.
And gradually the Holy Spirit leads us
more deeply into Peter's confession:
You
are the Christ.
You are the Son of the living God.
You are my Lord.
Allowing the Spirit to Reveal Jesus
Perhaps during the remainder of this
week we could spend some quiet time with Jesus' question:
“Who do you say I am?”
Don't rush to give the correct
theological answer.
Sit with the question.
Let the Holy Spirit bring your own
answer to the surface.
We might also ask:
“Holy Spirit, show me Jesus more
deeply.”
Perhaps there is an aspect of Christ we
need to encounter afresh.
Do I need to know Him as:
- Shepherd?
- Healer?
- Teacher?
- Saviour?
- Friend?
- Lord?
- the One
who never abandons me?
The Holy Spirit always leads us toward
Christ.
And the more deeply we know Christ, the
more clearly we begin to understand ourselves.
“You Are Peter”
Something else happens in this Gospel.
Once Peter recognises who Jesus is,
Jesus reveals something about who Peter is:
“You are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my church.”
There is a beautiful movement here.
Peter says:
“You are the Christ.”
Jesus replies, in effect:
“And now let Me tell you who you are.”
Encountering Christ reveals our own
identity.
The Holy Spirit does not merely help us
understand Jesus. He also helps us discover who we are becoming in Christ.
Peter is far from perfect. He will
stumble badly before the Gospel story is finished.
Yet Jesus already sees what grace will
make of him.
Perhaps the Holy Spirit does the same
with us.
We often see what we are now.
God sees what His grace is forming us to
become.
For Reflection This Week
- If Jesus
asked me today, “Who do you say I am?”, what would my personal
answer be?
- Do I
know Jesus mainly through what I have learned about Him, or am I
continuing to allow that knowledge to deepen into relationship?
- Is there
an aspect of Jesus that the Holy Spirit may be inviting me to discover
more deeply at this point in my life?
- Peter
discovered something about his own identity after recognising Christ. What
might Jesus be showing me about who I am becoming in Him?
Come, Holy Spirit. Reveal Jesus to us
more deeply, and in knowing Him, help us discover who God is calling us to
become.
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit.
Open the eyes of my heart so that I may
recognise Jesus more deeply.
Move my faith beyond simply knowing
about Him into truly knowing Him.
When Jesus asks me,
“Who do you say I am?”
help me to answer not only with my lips,
but with my life.
Reveal Christ to me in Scripture, in the
Eucharist, in prayer and in the ordinary moments of my day.
And as I discover more deeply who Jesus
is, help me also to discover who I am in Him.
When I see only my weaknesses, remind me
of what Your grace can make of me.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Lead me into a deeper relationship with
Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Amen.
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