At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus reveals His true identity just by asking a probing question "Who do you say that I am?" - firstly to the crowd and then to His disciples. Their responses show two ways of "seeing" and "knowing" Jesus: that of the crowd which is hearsay and lacks depth; the other of the disciples which is more penetrating and genuine. With His twofold question: "What do the people say?" and "who do you say that I am?", Jesus invites the disciples to become aware of the two different perspectives. How did each group arrive at their response? The first group knew of Jesus because they had information about Him; His disciples however, knew Him because they had a personal relationship with Him. To which group do we belong? What would our confession of Him be like?

Prayer is important to respond to Jesus' question. Jesus was at prayer alone in so many significant moments of His life. Peter's transformative encounter with Jesus which sealed his belief in the Christ of faith can never be replicated. Through Peter's confession, Jesus declared the Church firmly resting on his 'rock'. We are called to be witnesses of this apostolic Church and walk the way of the cross with Jesus. Finally, Peter's confession teaches us that God is not who we think He is, rather, He is what He says He is. In Him, we live, move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)