Friday of 25th Week, Year II: reflection
Theme: “But who do you say I am?” (Lk 9:20): The importance of knowing Jesus personally
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Reading: Lk 9:18-22
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus asked His disciples
who the people say He was. They answered. Then, He asked them who they themselves
say He was. Peter gave an answer that was correct, but his answer was completely
different from who the public opinion said Jesus was. So, if the apostles had
not been so close to Jesus and had intimate experience of Him, their
understanding of who He was would have been based on the wrong opinions of
other people.
Dear friends, it is important to listen to what
people tell us about who Jesus is and what He can do for us; their perception
of who He is might be 100% right. However, as we have seen in several cases,
some preachers’ ideas of who Jesus is and what He wants to do for us fall short
of what Jesus revealed about Himself and His mission. Their wrong teachings about
who Jesus is and what He will do for those who believe in Him have contributed
in forming Christians with wrong and weak faith in Jesus, as well as Christians
with false expectations of Jesus.
For instance, some of them tell their followers
that once they believe in Jesus, He will make them kings/queens in their
communities, bless them with mansions and exotic cars, grant them immediate
promotions at work or business success, make them pass their exams, make them immune
to sicknesses and physical attacks (give them odighi eshi), and grant them
every material thing they can think of. Some others tell their followers that
to connect with Jesus or obtain favours from Him, they must make financial
donations to the church, bury crosses or other religious materials in their
homes, jump up and shout alleluia 100 times, and other kinds of sensational
gyration. People with this kind of knowledge about Jesus keep going from one
ministry to the next, hoping to discover the Jesus who will accomplish all of
these things for them.
Dear friends, a good knowledge of who Jesus is and
of what He can do for us according to His mission would save us from being
deceived or misled. Such knowledge helped Peter and the other disciples to
maintain their faith throughout their missionary journeys, even during tough
times and persecutions.
Personal knowledge of who Jesus is can come
from improved life of prayer, daily meditative reading of the scriptures, silent
moments with Jesus at home, in the chapel or during adorations, faithful
participation at Mass, etc.
Therefore, I advise those who run from one
ministry to another in search of Jesus to kneel down and ask Jesus this very
important question that St Paul asked Him: “Who are you, Lord?” (Acts 9: 5). He
will open your eyes to know Him better, especially to know that He became your
Saviour by dying on the cross and resurrecting from the dead, and has charged
you to carry your own cross and follow Him.
May blessing and
graces of God be you this Friday, Amen.
Fr Isaac C. Chima
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