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Gospel Reading for June 29, 2025 – Matthew 16: 13-19
PRE-REQUISITE
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter,and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
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The fact that Jesus appointed Peter to be the rock upon which he will build his Church means that Jesus made sure his work of salvation will be continued through his Church. Salvation is a WORK IN PROGRESS for each one of us until our dying day. We should not think that with Christ’s resurrection, and as members of his Church, all is well and we can just eat and make merry as if there were no tomorrow.
Christ’s resurrection opened the doors of heaven for us. We are given the opportunity to go back to the Father when our time on earth is up. But, let us never forget the PRE-REQUISITE: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25: 40). This means, that from the very start, we were created to help each other – to give of ourselves to others and be like Jesus, who spent his ministry helping all those in need. If everyone were truly like Jesus, there would be a lot less suffering in the world!
Sts. Peter and Paul, pray for us!
