At every Sunday Mass, I say let us profess what we believe. And then we all recite a series of doctrines - the Nicene Creed - “We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty...” - the creed was written in the year 325 - it addressed questions and challenges that the early Church faced. When Jesus asked Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” he was not asking Peter to formulate a creed or to create some christological doctrine. Jesus was inviting Peter to express his own faith. Does he believe in Jesus and what does he believe about Jesus? From his experience of Jesus and through the gift of God’s grace, Peter has come to know that Jesus is the revelation of God to the world. He articulates what the church has come to believe about Christ. Later the articles of faith will be developed and taught to inquirers: but first comes Peter, expressing his faith and the faith of the first generation Christians...”You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Other followers of Christ will have to answer the same question and pass on that faith to their children and those to whom they preach. They will announce to anyone who will listen, who Jesus is and what difference he made in their lives. The creeds will emerge, but the teachings will have little meaning if people have not, in one way or another, answered the question Jesus asks us today, “But who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus is not just asking us if we go to church on Sunday; if we send our children to religious education classes or say grace before meals. First of all he invites us to acknowledge our belief in Him and to bear witness to his love in the way we live in this world.

Those who know us can detect our preferences. If we say we are big Yankee fans but never watch a game, never wear a team insignia or know who plays first base - - people will begin to wonder. If we say we love to read, but all we talk about are the evening TV shows and the soaps - people will begin to wonder.  If we say we are very concerned about the environment, but never recycle, drive a gas guzzler and keep all the lights on in our homes - - people will begin to wonder.

If we say we are Christians, yet there is little that signifies Jesus has made any difference in our lives - - people will begin to wonder. If we insist our children must go to Mass with us, but at home they hear us use racial slurs, utter stereotypical comments about the poor and immigrants and gossip about people in our church - - our children will begin to wonder: “Are my parents, my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, really Christians or do they just go to church?” “But who do you say I am?” Jesus asks us today. What response to the question does our life reveal to those observers around us? Communication is far more than words.

Peter voiced the faith the early church had in Jesus. It was to be the message they proclaimed. “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Those who accepted that message professed their faith in God’s unique presence in Christ. In accepting Jesus as “the Son of the living God,” and receiving the grace God offered them in Christ, they agreed to change their ways. Jesus was more than a role model for believers. In Jesus, God offered humanity the grace to live Christ’s life of love and service - especially to serve those Jesus served, the least in the eyes of society.

The faith Peter and the disciples come to profess in Christ should not be kept to themselves. They must not form a secretive and isolated society that will strive to avoid contamination from the world. Quite the opposite. Jesus sends Peter and the disciples out to proclaim this message to the world. Jesus gives them the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Those keys have been passed on from one generation to the next. May we, the people of St. Peter’s, use these keys to unlock the power of faith, to release the spirit of hope, to free the heart to love. May our belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, be seen in every action of our lives.