Every Sunday and Solemnity we get the opportunity to make a Profession of Faith also known as the Creed.
This is our statement of "I believe" and thus shows our perfect profession of the Christian faith that has been handed down to us from Christ to His apostles.
These words should penetrate into your very heart and soul because they are representative of our Christian belief.
In our Gospel we encountered Saint Peter who was the first of the apostles to profess Christ as the Messiah with His lips and yet He was also the first of the apostles to reject the news of our Lord's Passion.
And so Christ asked His apostles: "But who do you say that I am?"
This is the fundamental question of our Christian faith which we come to profess with our lips whenever we recite the Creed.
Christ is not desiring an opinion from us, but is calling us towards a true radical proclamation that is made out of faith. A faith that will never falter no matter the cross that we must endure.
Saint James instructed us to where this faith is leading by stating: "So also faith of itself, if it does not have works is dead."
Our faith is the very fiber of who we are. If we are to come to profess Christ with our lips as we do in the Creed; we in return must be sent forth from here to live the Christian faith in its entirety.
To live it by our life. To live it through our relationship to our neighbor. To live it by the way in which we act charitably towards others. In other words we are sent forth from here to live the fullness of faith which is proclaimed by the Church and in return we should desire to share this same truth with all those whom we encounter.
For the apostles this was the first occasion of three where they were instructed concerning the event of our Lord's Passion.
This statement challenges them and their faith and thus Saint Peter in his spontaneity begins to protest.
Despite our own Profession of Faith which we make with our lips we too get caught up in our own passions and in return begin to reject the Christian faith.
Catholicism is not a popularity contest of popular vote. Catholicism is not a buffet line where we get to pick and choose what we want to believe or reject.
Our faith is not one of comfortability where we can grow lazy and loose sight under the burden of years. Our faith is not a rejection of works where we fail to have concern for the imprisoned, sick, or poor.
Faith demands of us a perfect love for God and our neighbor.
Faith demands of us a true Profession of Faith where we are not only speaking words, but are allowing these words spoken to penetrate into our heart and soul and thus in return become a part of who we are.
The Christian faith is not always easy and thus Christ commands His apostles to take up His cross and to follow after Him.
Christ does not desire a short-lived enthusiasm or an occasional dedication from us, but instead desires an unmoving faith.
A faith that does not waver with the test of time. A faith that does not waver with the hardship that gives rise inside of our life.
Instead of faltering may we come to embrace the cross in all of its weight and thus prevail ourself to the New Life which springs forth from it through the Resurrection.
May we truly come to profess Christ with our lips this day as Saint Peter was able to do and in return may we be sent forth from here with a true faith which will never falter when we come face to face with the reality of the cross.
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