Faith Book

21^st SUNDAY (A) August 23, 2026

Isaiah 22: 19-23; Romans 11: 33-36; Matthew 16: 13-20

By: Jude Siciliano , OP

Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s Gospel reading: 

Jesus 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.”

Reflection: 

Jesus is not just a wise teacher or another prophet like John the Baptist, Elijah or Jeremiah. In our accepting Christ as “the Son of the living God,” and receiving the grace God offers us in him, we can change our lives and affect the world around us. We can more and more show the person of Jesus to the world so that others will also come to acknowledge him as “the Son of the living God.”

So, we ask ourselves:

What response would we give if Jesus were to ask us what he asked Peter? “But who do you say that I am?”

What changes must I make so that others will experience me a person who believes that Jesus is “the Son of the living God?”

Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082326.cfm