Reflect today on the depth of your faith and knowledge of the Messiah

Then he strictly ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. Matthew 16:20

This phrase in today's Gospel comes immediately after Peter made his profession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus, in turn, tells Peter that he is “rock” and on this rock he will build his church. Jesus goes on to tell Peter that he will give him the "keys of the Kingdom". He then tells Peter and the other disciples to keep his identity strictly secret.

Why would Jesus have said such a thing? What is your motivation? It seems that Jesus would like them to go ahead and tell everyone that He is the Messiah. But that's not what it says.

One of the reasons for this "Messianic Secret" is that Jesus does not want the word about who He is to spread randomly. Rather, He wants people to come and discover His true identity through the powerful gift of faith. He wants them to meet Him, to be open in prayer to whatever He says and then to receive the gift of faith from the Father in Heaven.

This approach to his true identity underlines the importance of coming to know Christ personally through faith. Eventually, after Jesus 'death, resurrection and ascension into heaven, the disciples are called to go forward and preach openly about Jesus' identity. But while Jesus was with them, his identity was communicated to people through their personal encounter with him.

Although we are all called to proclaim Christ openly and continuously in our day, his true identity can still be understood and believed only through a personal encounter. When we hear him proclaim, we must be open to his divine presence, come to us and speak to us in the depths of our being. He, and He alone, is able to "convince us" of who he is. He is the one and only Messiah, the Son of the living God, as St. Peter professed. We must come to this same realization through our personal encounter with Him in our hearts.

Reflect today on the depth of your faith and knowledge of the Messiah. Do you believe in Him with all your strength? Did you allow Jesus to reveal his divine presence to you? Try to discover the "secret" of his true identity by listening to the Father who speaks to you in your heart. It is only there that you will come to have faith in the Son of God.

Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God! Help my lack of faith so that I can come to believe in you and love you with my whole being. Invite me, dear Lord, into the secret depths of Your heart and allow me to rest there in faith with You. Jesus I believe in you.