Gospel: Matthew 16:13-23
After that, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them, you are John the Baptist; for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.
And now I say to you: You are Peter; and on this Rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”
Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
From that day, Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem; that he would suffer many things from the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the teachers of the law; and that he would be killed and be raised on the third day.
Then Peter took him aside and began to reproach him, “Never, Lord! No, this must never happen to you!”
But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path. You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”

Reflections
“On this rock I will build my Church.”
We know that foundations are what make something stand firm. Strong foundation, solid ground makes for stable structure. In Je­sus, the Church, the Body of Christ, stands on solid ground. He is the life, the truth, and the guide of the People of God. In him we find fulfillment, meaning, and direc­tion. Our faith has its basis on the resurrection of Jesus. Our hope is well founded on the words and promise of Jesus. And our love is grounded on the love of God for all his “very good” creation.
We have a choice where to ground our actions: we can ground them with the truth, the good, and genuine values; or we can base them from mere satis­factions. Those that are genuinely valuable are connected and ori­ented to the truth and the good. Genuine values promote well­ being and flourishing of the whole creation, humans and nonhumans alike. On the other hand, mere satisfactions, if they were to guide our actions, are unstable and can­ not be relied on. They tend to cor­rupt, and will destroy both human lives and the natural world. When actions are led by mere satisfac­tions, life in the end becomes disorderly and miserable.

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