The way you think…

 When I found this phrase in today’s Gospel, it touched me quite deeply and made me to ask some questions about the way I do my thinking. What am I thinking about myself? What about my faith? What is my understanding of God? Do I know Jesus? Have I tried to understand Jesus and his teachings?

I think these are valid questions in today’s world and I am sure we all are grappling with them in one or the other moment of our lives. When Jesus asks his disciples about his identity, they have the answers from the people out there. Then Jesus asks the specific question, “Who do you say I am?” Jesus wants to know what his disciples - his close circle of friends, who have lived and moved with him for quite some time by now - know about him. The answer of Peter sums up all of our answers too, we know Jesus as the Christ, the anointed one. Then comes the punchline, the reality of this Christ of ours. Being the “Christ” (the anointed one) for Jesus was not wearing a crown of jewels, but a crown of thorns, not a throne of velvet seats, but a rugged cross, not a journey into the Jerusalem temple and the palace, but outside the city to a hill far away. The ‘anointed one’ is a different kind of king, who shows his disciples that there is another way of thinking of ‘Kingship’. Jesus makes it very clear and loud to Peter that there is a way of thinking like God. So what is the way of thinking like God? I feel the second reading of the day from the book of James has the answer, it is our faith accompanied by actions. God does not just speak through the prophets but acts as well. We see it very clearly in Jesus. He not only talked the talk, but also walked the walk. The way we think is challenged in today’s liturgy. We are asked to think in a way that is different from the world, we are asked to think in terms of the ‘other’ in mind, we are asked to think and think differently, think like God. The best way to ask the question to ourselves is, “What Jesus/God would think in this particular situation?” Having said that, it is not always easy to have the thoughts of God in our everyday lives. Let me be aware that I am a human being and I need to discern before I jump into conclusions, and discerning is the way of thinking like God. So let us all pray that we become aware of our thoughts and begin to discern our way of thinking. Let us ask God to give us the grace to change our way of thinking so that we become broad minded and think as God thinks of the humanity. Amen.