"Take Courage...and Work!"

In today's first reading, Haggai 2: 1-9, Haggai recalls the memory of the Temple built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians and the Lord  asked the people through the prophet Haggai: 

Who is left among you 
that saw this house in its former glory?
And how do you see it now?
Does  it not seem like nothing in your eyes? 
But now take courage...and work!"

Haggai then recalls the covenant God made with the people when they left Egypt and began their journey to the promised land. Through the prophet, God said to the Israelites: "I am with you...This is the pact I made with you when you came out of Egypt. And my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear!"

God says the very same things to you and me on our journey of faith to the Promised Land of eternal life. Number 1: Do not fear! Continue to work in building the Lord's Temple that each of us is.  Do our lives, our choices, we might ask ourselves, radiate God's glory, as in the lives of those who have gone before us?  Number 2: God's spirit continues in our midst by the way each of us follows God's Son Jesus the Christ!

In today's Gospel, Luke 9: 18-22, Jesus asked the disciples who people are saying he is. The disciples tell Jesus that some people believe that he is John the Baptist come back from the dead, others believe that he is Elijah, while still others believe that he is some ancient  prophet.  "'But who do you say that I am?'  Peter said in reply, 'The Christ of God.'"  You and I need to answer Jesus' question, as well!  Who do you (who do I) say Jesus is?

For me, Jesus is God who dwells in our midst and who dwells in the very core of my being. Jesus is the Son of God Incarnate whom I receive in Holy Communion at every Catholic Mass or Liturgy. Because God dwells among us in the Eucharist, in all of creation, and in the core of our beings, for that reason, you and I are able to reflect God's glory here on earth.

What covenant has God made with you?