Joke: The Hazards of Infallibility! It was the birthday of the parish priest and children had come with their birthday greetings and gifts. Father took the fit-wrapped parcel from little Mary and said, “Ah! I see you have brought me a book.” (Mary’s father ran a bookstore in town.) Yes, how did you know? “Father always knows!” “And you, Tommy, have brought me a sweater,” said Father, picking up the parcel Tommy held out to him. (Tommy’s father was a dealer in woolen goods.) “That’s right. How did you know?” “Ah! Father always knows.” and so it went, till the father lifted Bobby’s box. The wrapping pink paper was wet. (Bobby’s father sold wines and liquors.) So father said, “I see you have brought me a bottle of scotch and spilled some of it!” “Wrong,” said Bobby, “it isn’t scotch.” “Well, a bottle of rum then.” “Wrong again.” Father’s fingers were wet. He put one of his fingers into his mouth but that gave him no clue. “Is it gin?” “No,” said Bobby. “I’ve brought you a puppy.”

In today’s Gospel, taken from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” At the time that Jesus was so popular, he performed miracle after miracle, healed the sick, cured the disease, and even raised the dead back to life again. This didn’t help people to know who he was, but it made them more confused. Some believed that he was Elijah, a great prophet in the Old Testament who even called fire from heaven to wipe out all who went against God. Others believed that Jesus was John the Baptist, who was popular with his message of repentance, the forerunner of Christ who came to prepare the way for the Lord to come. Still others said that he’s Jeremiah or one of the prophets. However, Peter, a representative of the apostles, said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Who is Christ if he’s not the anointed one? Who is the living God? Jesus responded to Peter, saying, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” The heavenly Father is the living God, and because God the Father revealed this to him, Jesus entrusted the key to the Kingdom of heaven to Peter.

What’s about Paul, who is he? In today’s second reading, taken from the second letter of Saint Paul to Timothy, after his conversion, Paul had no fear to preach the Word of God and convicted saying, “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.” The Lord stood by Paul was the living God who gave him the strength to fearlessly preach the Word of God. Even at the lion’s mouth, at the hands of those who wanted to put him to death, Saint Paul believed, saying, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.” What’s a wonderful profession of faith of Peter and Paul?

Peter’s profession of faith is “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” while Paul’s profession of faith is, “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.” In the Creed that we recite every Sunday and Holy Day of obligation, we profess our faith that we believe in One God, the Father Almighty, … we believe in One Lord Jesus Christ, … was incarnated of the Virgin Mary and became man. The God that both Peter and Paul, including ourselves, profess is the living God who presently lives in our lives. He is so close to us, but are we with him? How can we experience his presence in our daily lives?

Anthony De Mello, S.J., in one of his books, told a story about a student who came and asked his teacher, “How can I experience the presence of God in my life? I studied and I read many books, but I still couldn’t find God in my life.” The teacher didn’t say anything but invited the student to come in for a cup of tea. The teacher began to pour tea in the cup until it filled to the rim and continued to pour until it spilled out on the table and ran down to the floor. To this, the student couldn’t hold himself any longer and said, “Stop, stop, it’s overflowed.” To him, the teacher then said that in order to experience the presence of God in your life, you must first empty your mind. There are so many activities running in the student’s mind that he cannot experience the presence of God in his life.

When we, together with Peter, profess our faith that Christ is the living God and we cannot experience his presence in our lives, we ask ourselves: Who is in my mind, my heart, my soul, and my entire being now? Who is Christ for me? Who is Christ for my family, my loved ones? Is there anything and everything that occupied your mind and heart that you might have difficulty experiencing the presence of God in your life? The decision is always yours.