Dear Parish family,

What is your commitment to Jesus Christ? Let me be clear, I'm not asking what your commitment used to be when you were younger, or what you would like it to be someday in the future, or what you wish it was like if only circumstances were different. The question really is what does my commitment to Jesus Christ look like today, this week, this month, and this year?

Up to this point in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has been challenging his disciples regularly with hard lessons, dispelling their false ideas with his truth, pointing out weaknesses they didn't know they had, and calling them to mature discipleship. Now Jesus brings them to Caesarea Philippi and asks them for a commitment. "Who do you say that I am?"

Today’s gospel presents us with the story of a Canaanite woman who seeks Jesus’ help for herdaughter who is under demonic influence. Jesus’ response and the woman’s faith challenge us onhow to respond when we seek God’s assistance in moment of need, trial and difficulty.

Jesus is Lord of all the winds and waves, of all nature. To believe in Jesus Christ is to believe in the Son of God, as God.

Whether control over nature, the healing of sickness, the raising of the daughter of Jairus from death, the multiplication of loaves of bread to feed 5000 people, or Jesus himself rising from the dead, we see His great signs and wonders. How slow are we to faith! We are afraid of so many things. Yet to trust in God is to know that his only Son will help us to walk out on the water as we face the storms of life.

Mary’s love for Jesus was surpassed by none other. She had a special love for her Son, who is God, that made a claim on her entire being, body and soul. It is no wonder then, that upon her death Mary was taken body and soul into heaven so that she in her totality could dwell forever with her Son. Our celebration gives us the opportunity to ponder what heaven may be like and help us to long, even more fervently, for the fulfillment and joy that only God can eternally provide.

Jesus speaks of himself as the 'son of man.' He used the generic expression that simply means 'man.' He used this expression to avoid misunderstandings that other titles say; king or messiah, might have caused.

He used the term also to refer to the vision in the book of Daniel in the first reading: 'son of man' refers to the one, who brings salvation to the world, which is a clear prophecy of the coming Messiah (Mt.20:28; Jn.3:13; 18:36).