you are John the Baptist; for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” Jesus
asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,
the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not
flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And now I say to
you: You are Peter; and on this Rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers
of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be
unbound in heaven.”

Reflect

“Who do you say I am?” Today is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the
two great apostles. They are also known as the two pillars of the Church. According to
Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter. Today’s
Gospel passage points out that Peter’s profession of faith itself was a revelation from
the heavenly Father. Such profession of faith was not revealed through flesh and blood.
This clearly implies that it is the Lord who keeps building up his Church. We are mere
instruments of God in his mission to build up his Church. With regard to this, we
are called to hold on to God lest our effort to help build up the Church be in vain
(cf. Ps. 127:1). Furthermore, we are called to open ourselves to God’s grace. Openness
to God’s grace entails using our God-given gifts in order to build up the Christian
communities. Paul accentuated this challenge (1 Cor. 3:19ff; 14:12) too. Paul exhorted
us to no longer live according to the flesh so as to avoid jealousy and rivalry
(cf. 1 Cor. 3:3-4). We can keep the faith (cf. 2 Tim. 4:6) when we build up one another
by showing our loving concern and support.

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