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In today's Gospel (Mt. 16, 13-19), Jesus asks the question, "Who do you people say that I am?" Peter replies: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." This was Peter's personal profession of faith.

Jesus is a lot of things to many people. Today, this moment, Jesus asks you: "Who am I to you?" Sino nga ba ako para sa iyo?

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St. Peter and St. Paul were two men who strongly professed their faith in Jesus Christ. These two men are the pillars of the Church. These two had different backgrounds, different characters, different methods and different roles, but they steered the early Church to grow into what it is now.

It is amazing how God uses all kinds of people to do His work here on earth. He often uses those who are not worthy by worldly standards. None of us is indispensable to God's work. The truth of the matter is that God often works not so much because of us, but, in spite of us. This should make us grateful to Him for choosing us, humble to those whom we serve and open to our co-workers.

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The Church is buffeted by strong winds again these days. There have been bigger storms, but the Church has survived, and will survive because of Jesus' promise that "the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it.'' Through the years, the Church has been manned by unworthy, even inefficient captains and crew, but it has survived, and by God's grace, it remained on course.

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If the Church were a sailboat, Paul would be the sail and Peter would be the boat. Paul was the "liberal" who, according to Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD, was the one who "adapted, expanded and amplified the Gospel to the needs of the various communities he founded or visited," while Peter was the "conservative" who conserved and administered the Church. Paul was the navigator, charting new directions, while Peter was the captain who steered the ship. Without the sail, the ship would not have moved on. Without the ship, the sail would have just gotten blown away by the wind.

And so it is that today, within the Church itself, we have sail people and boat people, all working and praying together as we sail on to broader and newer horizons.

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We in the boat must continue to sail together. We must be a united community. But now more than ever the boat is open for all. We also must be a reaching-out community, ever welcoming, ever sharing the Good News of the Father's love in His Son Jesus Christ. Recent events that have "rocked the boat" must make us more humble and more prayerful. No matter what happens, we must not abandon the boat.

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There are four sails that we, the laity and especially the clergy, need to put out in the Church these days. The first is the Honesty Sail. We must go back to basic honesty and transparency. We have too many hidden "skeletons in the closets," and too much "dirt swept under the rug." If we are honest, there is hope that the Church will not become irrelevant. People can accept woundedness but not dishonesty.

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The second sail is the Humility Sail. We all need to learn simplicity and humble service once again. Many of us have become exclusive, imposing and arrogant. We need to recapture the spirit of the early Church and the humble spirit of St. Francis of Assisi once again.

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The third sail is the Hard Work Sail. Some of us have become too complacent and comfortable. We have taken the easy road of compromise and being "dead-ma." Yes, many of us are hardly working. We need to capture the spirit of Mother Teresa who labored with so much zeal and love.

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The fourth sail is the Holiness Sail. Unless we pray again, we all could end up as "noisy gongs and clanging cymbals." Without prayer, we become mere functionaries or activists without a Master. Or just plain scheming businessmen. We need to imbibe Padre Pio's love for the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

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More biblical trivia:

Question: When was the first plane ride of the Holy Family?

Answer: On their flight to Egypt.

Question: Who was the pilot?

Answer: E, di...si Pontius Pilot!

This brings us to the extra sail we need in the Church these days, the Humor Sail. We need a crew that is hospitable, respectful and joyful. We need people who sacrifice with a smile, and who give us hope, people who immerse themselves in the problems of this world, but who are able to lift us up and bring us to newer and brighter sights!

Yes, let's put up these sails, and let's sail on.

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, instill in us honesty, humility, hard work, holiness and humor as we sail on. Amen.