“Who do people say that I am?”  This is the question that Jesus asks his apostles in today’s gospel.  More than two thousand years later, it is also the question that Jesus asks you and me.  I find it interesting that Jesus was either curious in what people thought of him and who he was, or that on the surface he was ‘testing the faith’ of his closest friends.  Possibly, I missed the whole point of this gospel all together. I have spent most of my adult life reflecting on Simon’s Peter’s declaration in this gospel story: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.”  Maybe like so many other encounters that Jesus had with believers and non-believers, Jesus is calling his disciples, you and me into a deeper relationship.  A relationship that is organic and not static.
 
This concept of having a personal relationship with Jesus sometimes sounds too “Protestant” to some Catholics. Many contemporary theologians, authors, and lay bloggers have commented saying that it is not possible, legitimate or even wise for Catholics to speak about the importance of having a “personal relationship with Jesus?” Some say the phrase is essentially Protestant and inconsistent with Catholic teaching. That simply isn’t true, it is as Catholic as all concepts. We have been using the language long before our Protestant brothers and sisters started to incorporate this spirituality in to their evangelical churches. 
 
The Catholic church has expressed this in the writings of the Holy Fathers:
“Being a Christian means having a living relationship with the person of Jesus; it means putting on Christ, being conformed to him.” -Pope Francis
“It is necessary to awaken again in believers a full relationship with Christ, mankind’s only Savior.” Pope Saint John Paul II
 
Essentially, a personal relationship with Jesus is like any other relationship.  It is a choice made with free will.  When I promised I would love my wife in our wedding vows, it wasn’t merely an emotional act (it was and there is nothing wrong with that) or that I knew a lot about her (I did and that was good). Rather, I chose to love my wife that day and every time I choose to love her again, I affirm that initial commitment I made in my vows.
 
This is how I must have a personal relationship with Jesus. I must choose Jesus as my friend above all else.  As Thomas A. Kempis says in his book, The Imitation of Christ: “You cannot live well without a friend, and if Jesus be not your friend above all else, you will be very sad and desolate. Of all those who are dear to you, let Him be your special love.
 
And so Jesus asks today: “Who do you say that I am?”
 
Frank Barlag
 Principal