Friday – 25th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 9:18-22

A Case of Mistaken Identity

Mount of Beatitudes

Ever been mistaken for someone else?  Years ago, I was out with one of my buddies and a guy came up to us and started a conversation.  It turns out that he thought I was a friend of his, a guy named Jack who was a cop.  I told him insistently that he had the wrong guy, but he continued to insist he was right!  I finally had to pull out my driver’s license before he reluctantly gave up and accepted the fact that I was not who he thought I was.  Weird!

Today’s Gospel offers Peter’s confession of faith – You are the Christ of God.  But let’s focus instead on the other disciples.  They tell Jesus that people think He is John the Baptist reborn or Elijah or one of the prophets.  They think He is a religious leader from the past come back to life.  They mistake Him for someone else.  And yet there is one religious figure that is glaringly absent from their list.  Apparently, no one believes He is the Messiah.  All these years waiting for their Savior and no one seems to think Jesus is the Guy!  They mistake Him for everyone except the person He really is!

Is there a lesson in all this?  We call ourselves Christian; we are called to be forgiving, loving God and each other, to practice our Faith in word, thought and action. Would we be recognized as such?  Would someone be able to point to us and say, “Now that’s a Christian”.  Or would we be mistaken for someone quite different?

Great Spirit, help me to conduct myself today in a manner of respect, dignity and honor to all my brothers and sisters.  May others see You in my words and actions.

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