Many years ago in a little village in Palestine, there lived a boy called Jesus, and he was the son of a carpenter and so he was known as the son of the carpenter; then he grew and he became a carpenter himself, and he was known as the carpenter.  Then he began to teach and he became the teacher,  and then he began to work great miracles and they called him the prophet. One day he was with his friends, the twelve apostles,  and he stopped and looked at them and said,  who am I for you?  who do you think that I am?  Eleven kept silent,  and one of them, Peter,  said: you are Christ, the Son of God.’ Peter did not always get everything right, and he really let Jesus down when Jesus needed him most;  but this was the perfect answer. This was a water shed moment for the apostles, a bright light has been turned on in their lives, a great fire has been enkindled in their hearts,  their lives have taken on a much deeper and more  beautiful meaning.  If we were to ask randomly people on the street today: who is Jesus for you? we would get many different answers. Maybe one would say he doesn’t exist for me, maybe another might say he was a Jewish prophet, someone else might say he is the Saviour of the world; and maybe we could hear the answer, he is my friend who died on the cross for me.  Each one gives their own experience of Jesus.  In the gospel today, the question comes to each one of us and Jesus himself asks us the question. Who am I for you?  Is he somebody you read about in a book?  Is he the man on the cross? is he your saviour?  Is he your best friend?  Or maybe you might say I’m not quite sure,  I don’t really know who he really is. Maybe some of us are not quiet sure, our faith is weak and we are struggling. But this  should not discourage us, Jesus is there for those who are struggling; so let Jesus light the fire of friendship in our hearts today,  and then like the apostles this can be a water shed moment for us and our lives will take on a much deeper and more beautiful meaning.