Who do you say that Jesus is? Today’s reflection encourages us to embrace mystery, and reminds us that our search for knowledge is made meaningful by the relationship we form with God.

August 23, 2026: Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Isaiah 22:1–23
Psalm 138:1–3, 6, 8
Romans 11:33–36
Matthew 16:13–20

Within the Experience of Wonder

A reflection by Rachel Esser

“Who do you say that I am?”

This is the question Jesus poses to the disciples in this week’s gospel. Having just witnessed Jesus multiply the loaves and fishes, heal countless people, expel demons, and preach with extraordinary wisdom, it’s not surprising that the disciples struggled to understand the man in front of them. I’m sure they wanted to know who Jesus was too. As we often do, they simply repeated what they had heard: “some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Mt 16:14). I too have pondered this question. On a retreat this past July, my spiritual director asked me to picture and describe the Trinity. This past fall, a professor instructed us to analyze and compare the images of Jesus we were raised with, have now, and learned about in class. And I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked why I believe in God or who I believe God to be by friends and strangers alike, especially as a queer person. Never, in any of these instances, have I come up with a satisfying answer for who I say that God is.

If you’re anything like me, you want to know the correct answer for everything, and you want to know it as soon as possible. What better way to proceed in any scenario than with all of the information you could need? There is a comfort and a confidence that comes with knowledge. But the point of this gospel is not necessarily that Peter gives the right answer, revealed to him by God, or that he is the rock on which Jesus will build his church and the first pope. Rather, this gospel is about mystery.

Personally, I’ve always been a bit confused as to why Peter was chosen to be a special kind of leader among the disciples. He always seems to be challenging or doubting Jesus and denies even knowing him when Jesus needed his companions most. We know that Peter proclaiming that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” as he does in today’s gospel does not mean that God has gifted him with perfect wisdom and knowledge of God’s being and will (16). Peter cuts a man’s ear off! And yet, he is the one Jesus chooses to give the keys to Heaven.

Catholicism is about more than right answers and perfect adherence to doctrine. It is about being a living example of faith. Our tradition informs and guides us rather than restricts us. You can tell someone exactly who Jesus is, as best you can, and hope that it inspires some change within them. Or, you can be an example of the love of God, demonstrating to others what it means to be like Jesus. You can say that God is all-loving, but we contradict our own message when we do not act with love.

God is not a crime novel we can get to the bottom of, nor a math equation we can learn to solve with enough time, knowledge, and effort. The Creator of the Universe is much bigger than that. Our second reading reminds us of this as Paul, who is living in a post-Resurrection world and probably struggling with even more questions than the disciples, talks about the depth of our God: “from him and through him and for him are all things” (Rom 11:36). Even when the disciples come to the correct answer, Jesus immediately instructs them not to tell anyone that He is the Christ. If this gospel were about God revealing all the answers we needed to go out and preach about God with perfect accuracy, the disciples would have been treated to a very long theology lecture. Thankfully, I believe this gospel has a different message.

Rather than allowing uncertainties to hinder our faith, embracing mystery allows us to learn how to work through these uncertainties. Rather than striving for perfection in all things, we can strive for goodness in all things. There will always be things that we do not understand, but we can remind ourselves that we do not have to understand something for it to be meaningful. There is a beauty and an opportunity for growth in the search for understanding. I always hated critical thinking questions on tests as a kid when we had to apply existing knowledge to a new situation. It took me so long to see the reasoning behind asking us to do something we hadn’t practiced. But it wasn’t just about learning the correct answers; it was about learning how to think. I believe God is similar. We can, and should, pray for knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. It is great to seek knowledge of God–at least I hope so, considering I am yet to leave school. But this searching is not made meaningful by the achievement of ultimate knowledge of God. It is made meaningful by the relationship we form with God within the experience of wonder.

So, who do you say that Jesus is? And what are you learning along the way?

Rachel Esser (she/her) is a St. Louis, Missouri native currently working towards her MA in Theology and Ministry at Boston College. She joined DignityUSA in 2024 and loves being a part of the Young Adult Caucus. She hopes to continue the work already being done for LGBTQ+ advocacy and inclusion in the church through her own call to ministry.