20260823 FAITH IN CHRIST OVERCOMES THE WORLD
23 August 2026, Sunday, 21st Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Isaiah 22:19-23 |
I place the key of the House of David on my servant's shoulder
Thus says the Lord of Hosts to Shebna, the master of the palace:
I dismiss you from your office,
I remove you from your post,
and the same day I call on my servant
Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
I invest him with your robe,
gird him with your sash,
entrust him with your authority;
and he shall be a father
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and to the House of Judah.
I place the key of the House of David
on his shoulder;
should he open, no one shall close,
should he close, no one shall open.
I drive him like a peg
into a firm place;
he will become a throne of glory
for his father’s house.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 137(138):1-3,6,8 |
Your love, O Lord, is eternal: discard not the work of your hands.
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal: discard not the work of your hands.
I thank you for your faithfulness and love,
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal: discard not the work of your hands.
The Lord is high yet he looks on the lowly
and the haughty he knows from afar.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal: discard not the work of your hands.
Second reading | Romans 11:33-36 |
All that exists comes from him; all is by him and from him.
How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything? All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.
Gospel Acclamation | 2Co5:19 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 16:13-20 |
You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
FAITH IN CHRIST OVERCOMES THE WORLD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [IS 22:19-23; PS 137:1-3,6,8; ROM 11:33-36; MATT 16:13-20]
Every person seeks to live life meaningfully, happily, and fully. We are not simply animals who are content with food and pleasure. Of course, the basic needs for a comfortable life are necessary for us to live well and healthily. But beyond these physical needs, we seek emotional fulfilment, as well as meaning and purpose.
Yet, life is filled with riddles and mysteries, much like the dilemma St. Paul faced when trying to explain the salvation of the Jews who rejected Christ. While the Gentiles accepted Christ, God’s own chosen people rejected Him. Being a Jew himself, Paul felt deep pain that his own people were cut off from Christ, their Messiah and Saviour.
For us as Christians, therefore, like Paul, we seek to introduce Christ to others, especially our loved ones and family members. But we know that a prophet is not accepted in his home country. Even when we have our children baptised and enrolled in Catechism classes, we find that after ten years of catechesis, many leave their faith or lose their devotion to Christ the moment they enter tertiary education or begin working. How could this happen so soon after their Confirmation, where they professed their faith in Christ just as Peter did in the Gospel? What went wrong?
Indeed, many of us–even if we attend church regularly (which for some might mean once a year, if that counts as regular)–have lost our vibrant faith in Christ as adults. We attend church out of nostalgia, to make Him happy every once in a while, or when we are desperate for our prayers and petitions to be heard. The bottom line is that we lack a personal relationship with God and our Lord Jesus. We treat Them like vending machines, going to Them only when we need help. This becomes a vicious cycle: we cannot impart faith to our children if we ourselves are lukewarm.
For this reason, Jesus demands a personal response from us regarding His identity and our relationship with Him. When He arrived in Caesarea Philippi, He asked the apostles, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” This is still the general response of many Christians when posed with this question today–like the apostles, we merely quote what others have said and taught us about Jesus. But Jesus was not taking a straw poll on His popularity. To make His point clear, He immediately followed up with another question: “But you, who do you say I am?”
It is significant that while all the apostles responded to the first question, only Peter answered the second. Simon Peter spoke up: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Moving between these two questions requires a leap of faith. The first response cost nothing; it was merely a collection of other people’s opinions. But for the second, one needs special grace to take that leap of faith to confess the divine identity of Christ. This faith in Christ is aided by grace alone–without His divine help, it would be impossible to arrive at this truth. Hence, the Lord told Peter, “Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”
Consequently, whether a Christian can withstand the challenges, confusion, and contradictory views of the world regarding God, morality, and truth depends on their conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It was Peter’s confession of faith that made him worthy to be Christ’s visible vicar on earth after the Ascension. Jesus said to him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.”
There are two inter-related issues with respect to the foundation of the Church:
Firstly, Jesus said, “I will build my Church.” The Church belongs to Christ. Neither we, nor the Holy Father, nor His bishops own it. We must not presume to act as if we own the Church or can do whatever we like with it and the People of God. All of us belong to the Church, and we are co-workers in the Lord’s vineyard. But the Church belongs to Christ, and Jesus is the one who builds it. We are His disciples; our task is to listen to Him and follow His way and directives in building the Church of Christ, rather than the directives of the world, our own personal ideas, or grandiose plans.
Secondly, He builds the Church on those who possess Peter’s faith in Him. This is what the Lord meant when He said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.” Peter’s faith is the foundational faith of every believer. Faith in Jesus as the Christ, along with His teaching, is the ultimate foundation for our lives. Anyone who shares in Peter’s proclamation shares in his delegated authority to build the Church of Christ. As the First Reading reminds us, true authority is given by God: “I invest him with your robe, gird him with your sash, entrust him with your authority; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. I place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; should he open, no one shall close; should he close, no one shall open. I drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a throne of glory for his father’s house.”
Only those who share in Peter’s confession of Jesus’ true identity are truly disciples of Christ. The reality is that many of us act like disciples while lacking genuine commitment to Christ and His Gospel. This is the consequence of churches that preach “cheap grace” by admitting the unconverted without fostering conversion. When we try to build a church on those uncommitted to the Gospel, the church eventually becomes secularised, reflecting the values of the world rather than those of Christ. When deep conviction wanes and leadership lacks firm faith, a loss of credibility and scandal inevitably follow.
However, if we have the faith of Peter, the Lord assures us that “the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.” With faith in Christ, the Church becomes a fortress and a true pillar of strength for all who seek the truth. As Paul wrote to Timothy, the household of God “is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). With Christ, we can overcome all trials, opposition, hostility, and confusion in life.
This is why we must remain receptive to God’s foundational grace: encountering Him as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Faith in Christ and knowing His personal identity is a grace, as He said to Peter, “Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.”
How, then, do we avail ourselves of this grace? We cannot discover Christ’s identity through human reasoning alone or through hearsay. Instead, we prepare ourselves for Christ to enlighten us through a personal relationship with Him–by witnessing His miracles in our lives, listening to His Word, hearing the testimonies of others, and engaging in prayer. Christ does not normally reveal Himself out of thin air; He uses events and people to lead us to Him. Indeed, the Lord comes to us in mysterious ways, so long as we remain receptive and docile to Him and His Word. “How rich are the depths of God–how deep his wisdom and knowledge–and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor?”
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
