READINGS:  1st Reading: Numbers 20:1-13: Moses makes water flow from the rock at Meribah.

Psalm 95: O that today you will listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts’.

Gospel: Matthew 16:13-23: You are Peter on this rock I will build my Church

REFLECTION

Out of anger and anxiety the people of Israel held a council and confronted Moses and Aaron; the same ones who have being their mediators throughout this whole experience. Rather than ask politely, and trust in the one who delivered them from the demanding Pharaoh, they react with rash words.  They quickly have forgotten all the wonders the Lord God had wrought for them. Today’s first reading is another testimony to their forgetfulness. The place and the time written in line of history are pointers to the faithfulness of God and the response demands for us his people both in collective or personal ways. This is expressed in an utmost way by Peter at Caesarea Phillipi in today’s gospel. Yet he too also was caught in the same pendulum of forgetfulness allowing his emotions to get the best of him. God is ever faithful we too must always be faithful. Faithfulness demands loving God and keep to his commands both in good times and in bad times. Faithfulness demands constant appreciation and witnessing to the good deeds the Lord has done for us through his Son. Let us not harden our hearts today but remain faithful to God’s commands. Amen.

OSHO.