The First Reading (Isaiah 22:19\u201323) tells us that Shebna, the steward of Hezekiah (716\u2013687 BC), was replaced by Eliakim because of his thirst for power. The opening and closing of the doors of the \u201chouse of the king\u201d (Isaiah 22:22) were prerogatives of the Egyptian grand vizier, whose equivalent in Israel was the royal steward. The Book of Revelation (Revelation 3:7) quotes this passage and applies it to the Messiah, as does the liturgy of Vespers on December 20: \u201cO Key of David and sceptre of the house of Israel!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gospel (Matthew 16:13\u201320) reminds us that our faith is Christ-centred: only by confessing Christ can we be saved. \u201cFor one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved\u201d (Romans 10:10); \u201cTherefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession\u201d (Hebrews 3:1); \u201cExamine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realise that Jesus Christ is in you?\u2014unless, of course, you fail the test!\u201d (2 Corinthians 13:5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We must boldly proclaim the Lordship of Jesus, as Peter did (Matthew 16:16), affirming that it is only in Christ that we have redemption: \u201cThere is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved\u201d (Acts 4:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is especially important in an age marked by New Age ideas, in which many regard Jesus as merely one among many prophets of God\u2014a kind of \u201cJesus-centred spirituality\u201d\u2014rather than as the one and only Saviour, the Son of God, as Christianity truly proclaims. It is also significant at a time when, according to a recent survey examining whom Italians address in prayer, only 35.5% pray to God, while 14.4% invoke only the Virgin Mary, 12.5% Saint Anthony, and Jesus, at 9.5%, is almost on a par with Saint Rita and Padre Pio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This \u201cconfusion\u201d is precisely the work of what Scripture calls the \u201cantichrist\u201d: \u201cThis is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist\u201d (1 John 4:2\u20133, 15). \u201cMany deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. Such a person is the deceiver and the antichrist!\u201d (2 John 1:7). \u201cNo one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also\u201d (1 John 2:23); \u201cEveryone who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven\u201d (Matthew 10:32; cf. Luke 12:8; Revelation 3:5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The believer proclaims the Lordship of Christ at Baptism: \u201cFight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses\u201d (1 Timothy 6:12; cf. Acts 8:37). Yet the profession of faith is also a daily act: \u201cLet us hold firmly to the faith we profess!\u201d (Hebrews 4:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n