A Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 16:13-20)
When you read the Carmelite mystical saints, they all have their individual name for Jesus, and it’s not just Jesus. For example, Saint Teresa of Avila calls him my friend, my friend Jesus. Friend is her term. Saint John of the Cross, the term he uses mostly is my beloved. My beloved Jesus, my beloved. Or Saint Therese of Lisieux, the little flower, always says, “My Jesus,” never Jesus, “My Jesus.” They’re terms of intimacy, they’re terms of relationship, how they understand Jesus.
In today’s gospel, Jesus asks the apostles, “Who do you say that I am? Who do they say that I am?” Some of them say, “Well, you’re John the Baptist, or you’re one of the prophets.” And Simon says, “You are the Christ.” And Jesus smiles. Because now that is Simon’s term for Jesus, the Christ, which means the Messiah or the anointed one. That’s Simon’s term for Jesus.
As we saw, Teresa has a different term, John of the Cross has a different term, Therese of Lisieux has a different term. What term do you have for Jesus? It’s based on your relationship with Jesus. What do you call Jesus?
Now, that’s one side of the coin. The other side is now, Jesus turns to Simon and says, and gives him a name, “You are now Peter, the rock, the foundation.” So, the naming goes both ways. We name Jesus, and Jesus names us. So, the uh caveat here maybe, what does Jesus see? What does he base his name for us on? It could be pretty, or it could be pretty awful. You are . . .
