Scripture Reflection, August 23, 2026, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 22:19-23 Romans 11:33-36 Matthew 16:13-20

In today’s gospel, Jesus asks his disciples a profoundly important question. “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They reply with a litany of the many different titles and names they are hearing from his various followers.

This is Jesus’ way of introducing the question he really wants to pose specifically to the disciples. “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter, often the first to respond, (I suspect he was a gregarious extrovert), pipes up right away and says: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter nails it! And such a bold statement from Peter, delivered with great conviction, is all the additional proof Jesus needs in order to know it is now time to commission Peter to be the “rock” - the person on whom Jesus will build the Church.

Imagine for a moment what it might have felt like to be Peter, and to actually realize, with great certainty, that this man you had been hanging out with for months is actually God, in the flesh! It must have been an absolutely phenomenal moment! Even Jesus is astounded at Peter’s response, and tells him that he must have been given this knowledge directly from God the Father.

Jesus proceeds to tell Peter: “…the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (the Church). That statement gives me hope - hope in the midst of a world that is rife with violence, teeming with injustice, and struggling to survive amidst changes in climate. But we must do our part to keep hope alive - hope in the future that we are being called to help create, as we work with God to put an end to violence, hatred and the abuse of our planet.

Granted, none of us can change the whole world by ourselves; however, each of us can do our part to facilitate the healing that is required. Each of us must discern what we are being called to contribute toward building the Church that Jesus had in mind when he commissioned Peter to lead it.

And let the Church say: “Amen”!

by: Bill Miller