Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is? And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Matthew 16:13-16
Something that I’ve noticed far too often is that many Catholics do not know who Jesus is. If you ask the average person this question, they would tell you that He is the Son of God, or that He is the Messiah or our Saviour. This is said without understanding what this really means or who He truly is.
Jesus is God.
This is something I learned years after becoming confirmed as an adult Catholic and after going through the RCIA. A priest once told me that when he speaks to Catholics, he takes the approach that he is speaking to pagans and not knowledgeable Christians. This is because many people have forgotten what they have learned in their youth. “Use or lose it”, as the saying goes. If you don’t keep up with your knowledge, you will forget it, assuming that you had it in the first place.
The way I learned the divinity of Christ was rather unique. When I moved to Richmond, BC from Edmonton, Alberta, I started listening to a great deal of Christian radio, or Protestant radio to be more accurate. I never listened to Christian radio in Edmonton because Canada does not allow religious broadcasts from a single organization. Since Richmond is so close to the US border, I was able to pick up the Christian radio broadcasts from Washington state.
In one program that I listened to, the evangelist frequently said that Jesus is God. After hearing him say this many times, I began to wonder what he meant by it. “How can Jesus be God” I thought, “he is the Son of God, not God the Father.” I asked my Protestant friends, and they confirmed that Jesus, is indeed, God. What a surprise that was to me! With the zeal of a new convert, I ran around telling Catholics that Jesus is God, but all of them told me that I was mistaken. I discovered that many Catholics don’t know their faith very well.
Jesus is God.
Jesus is God.
Jesus is God!
I can’t state this truth enough. If Jesus is not God, there is no church or Christianity. This is what separates us from all other religions. This is why we’re right and they’re wrong. Priests need to tell this to their parishioners … don’t assume they already know this. Parishioners, tell this to your family and friends, don’t assume anything either. Jesus is God!
Praise the Lord.
