Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus declares that Peter is the rock upon which he will build his Church.
The
Church is built not on a worldly foundation but on a mystical
foundation, born of Peter’s faith in the revealing God. The Church is
neither democratic nor aristocratic—it is charismatic. And this is where
its power comes from.
How
has the
Church managed to survive over the centuries? It is the oldest
institution in the West, by far. Nations, empires, and institutions have
come and gone, but the Church remains. And the Church, founded on the
rock of Peter, is strangely there. Well, we have it from Jesus himself:
"The gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."
Jesus
then gives to Peter keys as a sign of his authority: "I will give you
the keys to the kingdom of heaven." Chesterton commented on the keys,
saying that they are strangely shaped and they are hard. The Church’s
creed, elaborating upon the confession of Peter, is a strange and
complex business; it is not something that would be contrived by the
mind of human beings. And it is hard, unbending, unchanging—for its
purpose is to open a very
definite door.
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but 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.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle
Lectionary: 535
Beloved:
I exhort the presbyters among you,
as a fellow presbyter and witness to the sufferings of Christ
and one who has a share in the glory to be revealed.
Tend the flock of God in your midst,
overseeing not by constraint but willingly,
as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly.
Do not lord it over those assigned to you,
but be examples to the flock.
And when the chief Shepherd is revealed,
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
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