REFLECTION: I am sitting here on a rock beside a lake, looking at and listening to the ducks, watching the ripples on the water and the swallows swooping and diving through the air.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus addresses Peter and says: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church ….I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”

The name Peter means ‘rock’ and remember it was Peter who walked on water with Jesus. We have heard so many times that the Kingdom of Heaven is within, and isn’t it just this Heaven within, that each person wants to experience whether he/she knows it or not. It’s really the walking on water that is the ‘key’ and there isn’t any key – it is a way of life – a way of unfolding. The Communion Antiphon tells us that “the world is filled with your gift from heaven.” The ducks swim; swallows fly; the grass grows; they do what they do. But human beings can live with awareness. The ducks are in ‘the Kingdom’, and isn’t it Peters’ and
Jesus’ message that each of us has the ‘key’ to walking on water.

It’s a step by step journey to like return. It’s there for everyone – we are all invited – and remember Jesus called his disciples ‘friends’ just as he wants each of us to be his friend, ….And equal sharing is what creates friendship. And Jesus just wants us the way we are-now.

A.S.