Christ, the True Foundation : St. Matthew 16:13-23

 

 

 

Feast of the Sanctification of the Church

Gospel of St. Matthew 16:13-23

Sanctification of the Church was a foreign phrase to me growing up in the Church. Rarely would I hear anything like that. Everything was always in Malayalam or what I thought was Malayalam. Later in life I began to recognize another language. It is not common to hear the significance of ‘sanctification of the church’ or terms such as ‘Koodosh Eetho’ discussed in our churches. We may end up not listening because we do not understand and the terms get lost in translation.

In our Gospel portion, Christ is trying to find out what He means to His disciples. After the disciples had been with Christ through thick and thin, Christ is curious, do they really get it? Christ asks His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples came back with a couple of interesting answers. “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” To us, this may be a bit confusing. Can you imagine being in the place of the disciples walking with Christ? Watching Christ multiply loaves of bread and a few fish to feed thousands or watching Him turn water into wine. Would you think to reply, “Oh yeah Jesus, people say you’re like John the Baptist.”

The disciples did not get it. They were looking for something else in Jesus. Jesus probably had a look on his face saying, “Come on! You almost got it!” when the boisterous and vocal Peter exclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Bingo! That is what Christ was looking for and on that confession the Church was built.

What conviction Peter had in Christ! What zeal! I often wonder, if Christ were to ask me a similar question, such as, “What rock have you built your life on?” would I be able to reply with conviction and zeal or would I reply with embarrassment and shame. This question is an important question to ask every day. Peter built his life on the rock which is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He fully committed his life to Christ and he exclaimed it with fervor.

In time, we too shall exclaim our faith and commitment with fervor and zeal. We do it so casually with our favorite sports teams, friends, foods, music, and clothes. We do it so easily via facebook, twitter, snapchat, viber, and through other mediums. When we truly commit to our faith, when we participate in the sacraments, when we follow His commandments, when we come with a broken and contrite heart, we too will shout at the mountain tops that our foundation is like that of the Church, in Christ, the son of the living God.

We recognize that the foundation that we have placed ourselves on is crumbling. It is our choice whether we decide to move ourselves upon the rock of faith. We can only pack so much sand into the foundation. Christ, the True Foundation is the kind of foundation that withstands all. It can withstand any hurricane or tornado that comes menacing our way; the types of storms that plague us in every aspect of our lives. Our faith roots us in Christ and allows us to face the storms of this world. When we root ourselves in the True Foundation, our challenges are easily overcome and our darkened paths are enlightened. It is time we reassess what our foundation is, and put full faith in the True Foundation, the Christ, the Son of the living God.


Questions for Meditation

1. What type of storms do you face in your life?

2. What foundation have you rooted yourself on?

3. What active steps can you take to root yourself in the True Foundation?


Author’s Information

Subdeacon Anoop Thomas
Northeast American Diocese
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