＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Isaiah 22:19-23

 You will be deposed, strongman. 

I will hurl you down from where you are.  On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.  I will clothe him with your robe,

I will strengthen him with your girdle, I will give him your authority, and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the people of Judah.

Upon his shoulder I will place the key of the House of David: what he opens, no one shall shut; what he shuts, no one shall open.  I will fasten him like a peg

in a sure spot, and he will be a seat of honor in the house of his father.

 

Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8 (8bc)

Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Romans 11:33-36

 

 How deep are the riches, the wisdom and knowledge of God! His decisions can­not be explained, nor his ways un­derstood! Who has ever known God’s thoughts? Who has ever been his ad­­viser? Who has given him something first, so that God had to repay him? 

For everything comes from him, has been made by him and has to return to him. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 16:13-20

After that Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of man is?” They said, “For some of them 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 (or Rock) 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 what you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:

God speaks through the prophet Isaiah how He can weaken any power and transfer such power to His oppressed people. The Apostle Paul tells the Romans how impenetrable God’s powers and designs. Such power, however, is laid bare and shared to Peter through whom the key to heaven is entrusted.

Reflect:

Our age is obsessed with padlocks and passwords. We lock everything: cupboards, refrigerators, cell phones. Even the one person we share bed or house with does not have access to our phone password.

Giving someone the key to our own house or patterns to unlock our phones requires deep trust. We put our private life in the hands of that person. Jesus deeply trusts Peter to hold not only the key to God’s house but, above all, the key to God’s heart At that, He trusts that Peter can admit people according to how God would admit them.

Pray:

We pray for those who have no one to trust, who have no one to give the key to their inner private life.

Act:

Count the number of people you can trust with your cellphone password or your room vault. If there is none, ask why.