Saturday, 14th Week in Ordinary Time
“Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. When we acknowledge someone, we admit that we have a relationship with that person. The relationship often involves indebtedness and so we publicly honor the person who has helped us.
Depending on the relationship and on the favor received, acknowledgment can be merely correct, or warm, or be a testament of undying gratitude. It can be as informal as a nod or wink, as official as a letter of recommendation, or as extravagant as a wedding toast. Acknowledgment is about what this person has meant to us and about what he or she has done for us, and it is a debt of justice as well as an expression of gratitude.
With this in mind, we can see that the whole of the Bible is about acknowledgment. It is about acknowledging God for the wonders of creation and for the salvation he brought through his Son Jesus Christ. We do this both as a Church when we celebrate the Eucharist and as individuals when we publicly thank God for the way he answered our prayers. It is natural that we should acknowledge and confess our God. What is strange is the idea that God would ever acknowledge us. And yet he has said that he will do so.
Our persons are held in high esteem by the Lord Jesus, our friendship is desired by him. And if we acknowledge him as our Lord, he will acknowledge us before his Father.
How far he will carry this is seen in the case of Peter who once confessed him as Messiah and then who denied him three times. Jesus did not let this denial stand but led Peter to acknowledge him again, and then again, and then again on that beach. Then Jesus acknowledged him as head of the Church and as the one who, despite his denial, would in final acknowledgment of his Lord be crucified upside down.
Let us ask for the grace of strength and courage to acknowledge the Lord – to confess his name before everyone we know.
Parokya ni Osong 