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Prior to Socrates. “Knowing thyself” is the beginning of true wisdom. Although the core of what he said was, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Either way, the lesson is that knowing ourselves is a key to a meaningful life.
To go a step further, God is our creator and He knows us better than anyone else. To get to know God personally is to get to know our authentic self because He gives us way to know Him through Jesus and His scriptures.
In the 21st Sunday of Ordinary time in the church, Fr. Edwin Tirado shared his absolute reflection from the Gospel from Mt. 16: 13-20, Peter’s Confession about Jesus.
1. The way we acknowledge Jesus depends on the depth of faith that we have for him.
Almost everyone of us grew up calling Him “Papa Jesus,” that’s how we recognized Jesus as children, Jesus is our father. When I was in pre-school, I remember I would pray to Papa Jesus to thank him for the food that he has given me and I would ask him for Tamagotchi as If he can literally buy it for me.
At a young age, I had the faith in him that he would be my guardian and my provider.
Growing up, I got to know him as my savior. Aside from sacrificing his life on the cross, he saves me everyday. He saved me from being late to school, to work, from failing my exams and we are faithful that until the day that we have to give back the life that we were given, he will always be our savior.
We knew Jesus according to how he moved in our lives.
2. Our faith in Jesus deepens the way we recognize Him.
“Kinakausap lang kita kapag ako’y nangangailangan…” as the song says. We only know Jesus when we ask for his blessings.
Communication is a key to any relationship. And with God, it’s no different
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God did not just pour his love that He has for us and out of his goodness. That should not always be the reason we go to God because we need something. It should be because we love him and because we want to give thanks to him. Know that just to be in his presence is a blessing itself
3. Recognizing Jesus will lead to the recognition of our real self.
Accepting Jesus in our lives gives is the chance to deepen our relationship with him. Jesus in return will help us recognize our real self. When we are to decide for our life, we seek for Jesus guidance and He will enlighten us on his plans for us. Plans which we believe are for our best.
If we get to know God, then we will come to know ourselves and our mission in earth. Thus, it fuels our sense of purpose and sense of meaning as we live in everyday life as a Christian. (Michaela Acilo)
