We live in an age of opinions.
Open your phone.
Scroll through social media.
Watch the news.
Listen to a podcast.
Everybody has an opinion.
On politics. On morality. On relationships.
On religion. On the Church. On Jesus.
Never in history have so many people had so many opinions available immediately. But there is a problem.
Opinions do not always lead to truth.
And when everyone claims to have the truth, who do you believe?
That is exactly the situation Jesus walks into in today’s Gospel.
He asks His disciples: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Immediately the opinions come flooding in.
John the Baptist. Elijah. Jeremiah.
One of the prophets.
Different voices. Different theories. Different ideas.
It sounds remarkably modern.
Then Jesus cuts through all the noise with one question.
“But who do you say that I am?”
Everything stops. Because history turns on what happens next.
Christianity is not built on public opinion.
It is built on the answer to one question: “Who do you say that I am?”
Peter speaks. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Not a philosopher. Not simply a good man. Not merely a prophet.
The Son of the living God.
Everything depends on whether Peter is right.
If he is wrong, Christianity collapses.
If he is right, every human life must change.
Jesus immediately tells Peter. “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
Peter did not invent Christianity.
He received it.
Truth is not something we create.
Truth is something God reveals.
That is one of the biggest differences between the modern world and the Christian faith.
Today we often hear:
“My truth.” “Your truth.” “Live your own truth.”
Jesus never speaks like that.
There is not my truth and your truth.
There is the truth.
And His name is Jesus Christ.
Then comes the promise.
“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.”
Notice something extraordinary.
Jesus does not promise a book.
He does not promise a movement.
He does not promise a philosophy.
He promises a Church.
A visible, united Church, built on the Apostles.
A Church that will continue after they die.
That is why Christianity is not something each generation invents again.
Christ did not leave us with confusion.
He left us His Church.
Because every generation will need somewhere to hear the truth without having to invent it again.
That is why we celebrate Peter today.
Not because Peter was flawless.
He wasn’t.
He denied Jesus.
He lost courage.
He misunderstood Christ more than once.
But Jesus did not choose Peter because he was strong.
He chose Peter because He is strong enough to work through weak people.
The first reading proves it.
Peter is in prison.
Chained.
Guarded.
Awaiting execution.
Everything suggests the Church’s future is finished before it has really begun.
But while Herod has soldiers… The Church has prayer.
While Herod locks doors… God opens them.
While Herod places chains on Peter… God breaks them.
Luke wants us to understand something.
No prison can imprison the Gospel.
No government can imprison the Gospel.
Because the Church belongs to Christ.
For two thousand years people have predicted her end.
Roman emperors.
Kings.
Dictators.
Communist regimes.
Militant atheists.
Every century someone announces that Christianity is finished.
Yet here we are.
Not because Catholics are especially clever.
Not because bishops always make the right decisions.
Not because Christians never fail.
We are here because Christ keeps His promises.
Then Paul speaks.
These are some of the last words he ever wrote.
There is no self-pity. No bitterness. No regret.
Only peace.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Notice the last words. “I have kept the faith.”
That is success in God’s eyes.
To remain faithful.
Today that is not easy.
Our children are growing up in a world that questions almost everything the Church teaches.
Marriage.
Life.
Human dignity.
Truth itself.
Many Catholics feel intimidated.
Many stay silent.
Not because they have stopped believing.
But because they feel they cannot answer the questions.
That is one reason I have begun our new Defending the Faith resources on our parish website.
Not to make us argumentative.
But to make us confident.
Because if we cannot explain our faith, we will eventually struggle to live it.
If we do not understand it, we will struggle to hand it on.
The next generation deserves more than, “Because the Church says so.”
Our children deserve more than inherited habits.
They deserve reasons.
They deserve confidence.
They deserve to discover for themselves that the Catholic faith is true.
They deserve to discover that Catholicism is beautiful.
Reasonable. Historical. Biblical. True.
Peter confessed Christ.
Paul proclaimed Christ.
Neither died defending an opinion.
They died defending a person.
Jesus Christ. The Son of the living God.
And that is why their witness still matters today.
Because the world does not need more opinions.
It needs the truth.
The truth that became flesh.
The truth that died on the Cross.
The truth that rose from the dead.
There are many people today who say:
“I believe in Jesus…but I don’t need the Church.”
Yet Jesus never said: “I will build private spirituality.”
He never said: “I will build isolated believers.”
He never said: “Each person can decide for themselves.”
He said: “I will build my Church.”
If Christ loved the Church enough to found her…
If Peter gave his life for her…
If Paul gave his life to spread her…
Then surely we cannot treat her as optional.
We cannot say,
“I’ll come when it suits me.”
“I’ll come when I have nothing else on.”
“I’ll come if the weather is nice.”
“I’ll come if I feel like it.”
We would never treat the people we love like that.
We should not treat Christ like that.
Sunday Mass is not one activity among many.
It is where the Church Christ founded gathers around the altar He gave us, to receive the Body and Blood He died to give us.
Peter and Paul did not die so that future Christians could become occasional Catholics.
They died because they believed Jesus Christ had established something worth living for…and worth dying for.
So today Christ asks us once again:
“Who do you say that I am?”
If He truly is the Son of the living God…
Then he deserves our loyalty.
More than our occasional attention.
He deserves our worship.
More than an hour when it is convenient.
He deserves our whole lives.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 