Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (9: 18-22) in which Peter, responding to Jesus asking, ‘Who do you say I am?’, declares that Jesus is the Messiah.

Today in the Gospel, Fr Paul says, we hear Peter’s profession of faith that Jesus is God’s anointed messenger. This declaration happens in three of the four Gospels.

For Luke, who we are reading today, prayer is so important that he stresses Jesus was at prayer as he was at so many moments of importance like the choice of the Apostles, the Transfiguration and others.

In Luke, Peter is not praised or rebuked for what he has declared. Luke hurries onto the message of suffering.  Neither Jesus, nor his disciples, can win through to the Resurrection without first experiencing suffering in their lives.

Mindful of this message of today’s Gospel, Fr Paul says we might ask ourselves, ‘How do I respond when suffering becomes part of my life?’