21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. August 27, 2017 [Matthew 16:13-20]

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Mat 16:16)”

Today’s Gospel is well known as the Confession of Peter. Jesus asks the disciples who He is, and Simon confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He gets it right, and Jesus Himself reveals that his answer does not come from his human weakness, but from the heavenly Father. I used to think that this revelation is an instant inception of divine idea inside Simon’s mind. Right there and then, like Archimedes who discovered the Law of Hydrostatic, Simon also shouts “Eureka! I have found it!”

However, I realize there is a different understanding of revelation. It is not an instant one, but a revelation that involves Simon’s entire life as well as his active participation. Simon is able to formulate his answer because God has led him to meet Jesus, and on his part, Simon decides to follow him and live as his disciple. The revelation comes through a long process of listening, witnessing and sometimes, misunderstanding his Master. Simon sees Jesus’ miracles. He hears Jesus’ teachings. He feels Jesus’ compassion for the poor and the afflicted. Simon gradually recognizes Jesus personally and intimately. Simon’s confession is born of this intimate knowledge and friendship. He knows Jesus’ story, and at the right moment, he is ready to share his story of Jesus with others.

This is not far from our daily experiences. When we address our loved ones and close friends, we do not just call them with ordinary names, but names imbued with our intimate stories. My mother simply calls me Bayu, but I know that it is a lot different from a stranger who calls my name. Often, we also have terms of endearment. Among close friends in the Philippines, we call each other as “Friend”, “Friendship”, “Best”, “Bessy” among other. These names are beautiful because we hold each other’s stories dearly. Indeed, our humanity is conceived because our ability to gather our common stories and to share them confidently.

Therefore, it is a serious offense to our humanity when we suppress other people’ stories, and address them with improper words. Our refusal to recognize the others’ stories is in fact, the root of many discriminations, like racism, sexism, and fundamentalism. The worst is when we erase all together the names and the stories behind them. Victor Frankl, the author of “Man’s Search for Meaning” was once a prisoner at Nazi’s camps. He narrated how prisoners were called by set of number as their identity, like prisoner 1234, and gradually they also lost their humanity, as they were treated, tortured and disposed as mere numbers.

The war on drug in the Philippines has been one of the bloodiest in the Philippine history. Thousands have been killed, the suspects, the law-enforcers, and even innocent civilians. Yet, many do not care, “Anyway, it is just number and statistics.” Till Kian, a teenager student, was mercilessly killed allegedly by the law-enforcers, and the event recorded in CCTV camera awakens the nation’s conscience. The investigation was held by the Senate and Kian’s parents faced the alleged killers of their son. During this hearing, the parents narrated Kian’s stories as an ordinary boy who aspired to become a policeman himself. Kian began to emerge to be a human person with stories, hopes and dreams, not just a faceless number. And the mother ended her statement by saying to the alleged perpetrators, “Ama ka rin (You are also a father).” It was not only a call to their conscience, but also reminder to all of us that we fail as humanity if we no longer listen to and share our stories.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP