Who do you say that "I" Am?!

We hear Jesus in the Gospel passage for this Sunday asking his disciples who the people think he was. They just had a busy day of preaching, exorcising demons, and healing the sick. Jesus would just want to know if the people knew who their "preacher," "healer," and "exorcist" was. To our amazement, the disciples' responded that the people did not know him. And asking them, "Who do you say that I am?!" Jesus was checking if indeed his disciples know him after having spent time with him. And among the disciples, it was Peter who blurted out first "You are the messiah, the Son of the Living God!"
Many times in our lives we come to a point of not really knowing our friends as to who they really are. We can only know our friends deeply if we spend much time with them, sharing with them our pains and gains, our sorrows, anguish, as well as our successes and fulfillments in life. Likewise, we have been Christians our whole lifetimes (for some of us). But do we really know this Jesus Christ, after whom we are called Christians?
Perhaps today the Lord is inviting us to get to know him more. So let us beg for the grace of intimate knowledge: Lord Jesus, grant me the grace that I may truly know you more intimately, so that I can love you more dearly and follow you more closely. Amen.