From today's gospel: Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and 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.'"
From Michel Sauvage, FSC and Miguel Campos, FSC, Announcing the Gospel to the Poor: "'And when Jesus asked what they themselves thought, St. Peter, enlightened as he was from above, as Christ Himself declared, exclaimed: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" (De La Salle, Med. 139.2). Such is the knowledge of faith: the adherence of person to person. Thus understood, faith opens one every day to an interior welcoming of that Spirit who Himself, little by little, conforms one to Christ . . . [De La Salle] never ceases to root [the brothers] ever more deeply in the specific soil of their daily ministry – for the gift God has bestowed on them concerns at the same time "these children" that He has confided to them. . . .'"
Brothers Michel and Miguel remind us that the process of being rooted in Christ is also the process that roots our students with us. As Christ becomes more known to us, so too our students. The invitation to acknowledge the nature and person of Christ more deeply in our own lives becomes the invitation to build a stronger relationship with the young people entrusted to our care. The personal relationship we then have with God in Christ becomes shared, through us, with them. As we hear Jesus' question this week about who he truly is, will we know more deeply those with whom he seeks to connect us?
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!