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Thursday, August 9, 2007

Who do you say that I am?

Today's Gospel has Jesus asking "But who do you say that I am?" This is an important, essential question that Jesus still asks each of us today and one that we need to answer from the depths of our being. Peter was inspired to reply: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." What do I say today when Jesus again asks me?

It is also the feast of Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Edith, a Jew was converted to Catholicism after reading the life of Teresa of Avila; later she entered the Carmelite convent. As Jewish-Christians were being persecuted in Germany, she was sent to another convent in Holland. My missalette,Living with Christ, said that when the Bishop spoke out against the persecution of Jews, the Nazis retaliated and arrested all Jewish-Christians and sent them to the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Edith and her sister Rosa were both taken there to die. Edith was named co-patron of all Europe with Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Siena. Reading about what happened when that bishop spoke out against the persecution of the Jews made me reflect on the lack of action by Pope Pius XII; it may have saved more people than we may ever know.

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