Religious Education 

WEEKEND GOSPEL 

GOSPEL    Matthew 16:13-20

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

You are Peter, to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

 A beginning point for discussion of this week's Gospel with children:

In today’s Gospel, what question did Jesus ask his disciples?

What did Simon Peter boldly say?

Let us take a few moments to think how we might answer Jesus’ question.

Who do you say Jesus is?

Jesus is both God and human.

How does believing in Jesus change us?

We pray that Jesus will be with us this week as we live as his disciples.