After declaring that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Peter was astounded by Jesus' response, "It was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven." Peter is able to profess this faith because the gift of revelation comes from the Father. In all honesty, Peter does not believe this declaration based on his own effort or working. He gets it from God. And he cannot claim it is purely his!

Therefore, we must realise that we cannot claim our own strength as a basis to believe; God gives it to us freely. We cannot depend on ourselves in order to believe; we have to rely on God. We have to humbly accept the reality that faith is a gift from God. Have I appreciated this great gift of faith?

Having this faith moves us to a deeper relationship with God. Thus, we become better witnesses of faith to others, like the first reading encourages us to do - not simply as a duty but gladly, not for sordid money, but because we are eager to do it. Today, we pray for the faith of Peter to endure in the Church. And also, for us to appreciate our own gift of faith from God.