But whom do you say that I am?
Our Lord asks the Apostles.
And it's St. Peter who responds,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Now why is Peter the one to respond to Christ's questions?
It's because he was the one preordained by God
to be the chief of the Apostles and the head of the whole church.
And so here, as well as at the resurrection,
he speaks in the name of all of the Apostles,
who later, in their turn,
make St. Peter's confession their own,
as we all need to make St. Peter's confession our own.
We all need to proclaim Christ as the Son of the living God
if we wish to be saved.
Our Lord says that St. Peter received the knowledge of his divinity
by divine inspiration and not from any natural source.
He says,
He says,
He says,
So this is a proof that faith is, above all, a gift from God,
a divine light which enlightens our minds
and enables us to profess and believe with certainty
everything that God has revealed.
And this gift of faith, our Lord says, makes Peter blessed.
Blessed.
Blessed.
Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah.
And why is he blessed?
Because the gift of faith is the seed of eternal life.
The knowledge of Christ as the Son of the living God.
As our Lord says in the Gospel,
This is eternal life, to know thee, the only true God,
and Christ Jesus, whom thou hast sent.
And so the gift of faith,
The gift of faith makes one blessed, makes one happy in this life and in eternal life.
Because Peter recognized and professed him to be the Son of the living God,
our Lord then made him the head of the apostles and of the entire church.
He made him his vicar and visible representative here upon earth,
promising to build his church upon him,
as upon earth,
as upon a rock.
He gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven
and commanded him to feed his lambs and to feed his sheep.
Our Lord also promises that the powers of hell,
with all of its persecutions and heresies,
will never prevail against the church.
And in fact, we see that our Lord has been faithful to his promise.
More than 20 centuries have passed since that time.
Thousands of heresies have arisen,
all raging with fury against the vicar of Christ.
More than 20 centuries of kings and emperors,
cities and nations,
rising up against the church and her supreme head,
the Pope.
And yet the church still stands,
just as Christ had promised,
because it is founded by him,
the son of the living God.
And so today we should thank God
that he founded the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church for us.
We should pray for the supreme head of the church,
Pope Benedict XVI,
that he may continue to receive the grace to follow St. Peter
in zeal for the true religion
and for the salvation of the world.
And that he may continue to receive the grace to follow St. Peter in zeal for the true religion and for the salvation of the world.
And that he may continue to receive the grace to follow St. Peter in zeal for the salvation of the world.
And that he may continue to receive the grace to follow St. Peter in zeal for the salvation of souls.
We should take care always to remain united
to our Holy Father
and the church,
the mystical body of Christ,
in which alone is found true liberty and progress,
namely,
freedom from the yoke of sin
and advancement in virtue and sanctity.
In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Thanks for watching!