If someone asked you, “Why are you Catholic?” How would you respond? It’s an important question
for us to reflect upon. Why are we Catholic, as opposed to another religion? If you drive around
Vacaville, there are plenty of other options to go to on a Sunday. If you go down the street, there will
probably be a better, more exciting preacher. Another church may have a more lively youth group or
play more catchy contemporary music. You may even find funner activities, more comfortable chairs
instead of hard, wooden pews, and even a coffee shop when you walk in. Why do you keep coming
to the Catholic Church each Sunday? After all, the Catholic Church can seem strange. The moment
you walk through the front doors, the inside smells of incense. The choir chants strange words in
ancient languages, like Latin and Greek.

Growing up in a Filipino household, if someone were to ask me that question, “Why are you
Catholic?” I probably would have simply shrugged my shoulders and said, “My parents”. For most of
us, the faith was passed on to us by our family. We’re Catholic because generations before us were
Catholic or we come from cultures and countries that have been profoundly shaped by the Catholic
Church for centuries. For that, we must be grateful. In our current climate of options, our answer to
the question of “Why are you Catholic?”, must be deepened. It has to be stronger than “Because I
was raised Catholic.”

Today’s Gospel provides us with one such response to this important question. I am Catholic
because Jesus founded the Catholic Church. Talking directly to Simon, son of Jonah (the name of St.
Peter before Jesus changed it), Our Lord said to him, “Blessed are you… For flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, buy my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I
will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” (Cf. Matthew 16:18).