Zechariah 12.10-11,13.1 | Galatians 3.26-29 | Luke 9.18-24

After Pentecost Sunday, we return to Ordinary Time, although last week we celebrated Most Holy Trinity Sunday. Today we begin with Mother Church the twelfth week of Ordinary Time, which is a liturgical time to deepen our faith in Jesus Christ through His teachings accompanied by His works.

In some countries, today is the celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, transferred from Thursday to this Sunday in order to facilitate the participation of the faithful.

Today the evangelist Luke tells us about the perception of the people and the disciples regarding the identity of Jesus, with Peter responding that He was the Christ of God. In addition, Jesus announces His violent death and resurrection, inviting His disciples to take up their daily cross and follow Him to save their lives.

The revelation of Jesus' identity is a significant moment in the Gospel narrative. Despite associating Jesus with important figures, such as John the Baptist and the prophet Elijah, the people's perception was wrong, seeing only His humanity. Peter, on the other hand, responding on behalf of the disciples and instructed by God the Father, correctly answered that Jesus was the Christ (Messiah, in Hebrew, which means the Anointed One), discovering His divinity in His teachings and works.

Through the prophets, God had promised to send His Anointed One to His people, that is, His Chosen One, through Whom He would speak and act for the liberation of the Jews. They insistently asked God to fulfill this promise, especially in those times of Roman domination.

Through Catechesis and evangelization, we help people become Christians, declaring that Jesus is the Christ, through the instruction of God the Father and through meditation on His teachings and works.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus announces His death and resurrection three times. Today's passage is the first announcement. In short, Jesus would be rejected by the Jewish authorities, who would hand Him over to the Roman authorities to be killed on the cross, with His victory on the third day through resurrection.

The common idea among the Jews was that the Messiah, the Christ, would be a powerful figure, like a king-general-priest, like King David, driving out foreigners with a well-armed army. Jesus tried to correct this Jewish idea, saying that the liberation mediated by Christ would be spiritual in nature, not political; liberation would be achieved through His cross and resurrection, not through an army and weapons.

Jesus said that in order to follow Him, disciples should deny themselves and take up their own cross daily. He said that whoever loses his life for His sake would save it. In other words, Christians should live like Christ, willing to lose their lives to save it.

Following the example of Jesus Christ, over the centuries, many Christians have literally and freely lost their lives as martyrs and witnesses to the faith. The Church believes and teaches that these martyrs overcame death and today reign with Christ in Heaven, interceding for the perseverance of Christians in the world.

Let us ask God for the grace to be faithful witnesses of Christ in this world that has rejected salvation and persecuted the servants of the Lord.

Today the prophet Zechariah speaks to us of the sincere repentance of the Jews and their purification by the Lord. God would give them a spirit of grace and prayer so that they would sincerely repent of the violent acts they had committed, having access to a source of purification. Zechariah speaks of the great mourning for the one whom the Jews had mortally wounded, for the loss of an only son, a firstborn.

Sincere repentance is a divine requirement in order to receive forgiveness. God Himself grants sinners the grace to sincerely repent. Many Jews became Christians through repentance, for having mortally wounded the only Son of God the Father, the firstborn Jesus.

We too are often violent and allow ourselves to be carried away by the capital sin of anger. Every time we mistreat a human being, we are mistreating Jesus Christ Himself, Who, through His incarnation, identifies Himself with humanity, particularly with those who suffer.

Let us ask God for His spirit of grace so that we may dominate our inclination to evil and so that we may be instruments of peace in conflicts in the world, in the Church and in families.

Today, the apostle Paul speaks to us in his letter to the Galatians about the common dignity of Christians due to their union with Christ, which makes them descendants of Abraham and heirs of the promise that God made to him.

The common idea among the Jews was that the Messiah would come exclusively for the descendants of Abraham and that liberation would be national, reestablishing the honor of Israel among the neighboring nations.

But the apostle said that, through Christ Jesus, liberation was offered to everyone, to Jews and non-Jews, who came to all nations. Paul said that, by believing in Christ, everyone would have a common dignity, becoming heirs of the promise of salvation made to Abraham and his descendants.

Christianity is a catholic religion, that is, universal, in which everyone fits, as long as they declare that Jesus is the Christ of God, who saved us through His death on the cross and resurrection.

Let us proclaim with joy and conviction to everyone, those near and far, that Jesus is the Christ and that, in Him, all differences are overcome by the recognition of the common dignity of Christians.