To read the texts click on the texts: Is 22:19-23; Rom 11:33-36;Mt 16:13-20
A story is told of John XXIII who
was Pope during the turbulent 1960s when it seemed that everything in the
Church was falling apart. There was a crisis in the priesthood, in religious
life, in married life, in faith, indeed in the Church. The Pope worked long and
hard hours trying to address these problems. One evening, after an exhausting
day in the office, he went to his private chapel to do his daily Holy Hour
before retiring but he was too exhausted and too stressed out to focus or pray.
After a few minutes of futile effort, he got up and said, “Lord, the Church
belongs to you. I am going to bed.” Yes, the Church did and continues to belong
to Christ. Peter and every one of us are the rocks on which the Church is
built, but he is the builder.
There is a striking parallel
between the first reading from the prophet Isaiah and the Gospel text of today.
The prophet denounces the master of the palace, Shebna, and says that the Lord
will place another, the more worthy servant, Eliakim, in his place. Eliakim
will have binding authority over David’s house, and the Lord will make him
secure.
The text from Matthew portrays a
similar investiture of power and authority. Jesus renames Simon as Peter, which
means ‘Rock’ – the foundation on which he will build his Church. Though there
is still some debate about who the rock is – Peter or Jesus, if one remembers
that it is Jesus who builds, then one will not have too much difficulty with accepting
Peter as the rock. Peter will also receive the keys of the kingdom and be given
the power to bind and to loose, which will be ratified in heaven. The
foundation for which authority and confidence is that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of the living God.
Somewhat paradoxically, having
altered Mark to enhance the role of Peter and make him the recipient of divine
revelation and foundation of the Church, Matthew leaves virtually intact the
subsequent misunderstanding of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection by Peter whom
Jesus rebukes as “Satan” who “is not thinking as God does, but as humans do.
This is an indication of how weak the foundation can be. The same Peter who was
declared “blessed” a few verses earlier is now regarded as being against Jesus
and all that he stands for. The whole story portrays blessedness on the one
hand and brokenness on the other. It portrays insight on the one hand and lack
of insight on the other. So the dangers are enormous. The Church has always
been in danger of becoming one of the powers that it has been called to
confront. That reality is lived out in history – on a grand scale, but also in
each of us. Power, pomp and glory are very seductive.
Thus this incident which, in
Mark, celebrates a turning point in recognizing who Jesus is, because in
Matthew a celebration of what the Church is. Peter is representative, but it is
significant that it is precisely Peter who represents. He is chosen as a
leader, but he and the others are to be the Church, the community, who will be
called to feed the multitudes and bring them God’s compassion.
They will also be the community
who will often fail, and fall short of what it means to be Ekklesia or “those
who are called out”. They will sometimes side with the powerful against the
weak and with the “haves” against the ‘have-nots’. They will sometimes sink
because of the fear that overwhelms them and because of their lack of faith,
but they continue nevertheless to be called to be that “contrast community” who
will show by their words and actions that the community of Jesus continues to
be alive and that negative forces or evil can never overcome it. The Church,
the historical and spiritual reality that Jesus is creating, is his and his
alone. No one can create another Church. Christ’s Church can be built on no
other foundation. We constantly relive this Gospel story, When we, like Simon,
say to Jesus, “you are the Christ,” he says to each of us, “You, too, are
Peter; you too are a rock, and with you I am building my Church.” What happened
to Peter continues to happen to us.
Paul is clearly aware of this and
so in his hymn to Divine Wisdom he affirms that it is only because of the
active wisdom of God working in the world that the Church can continue to be
faithful to the promises of Christ. The depth of God’s wisdom and purpose are a
marvel.
This idea is reiterated by the
Psalmist who acknowledges God’s unfailing love and faithfulness and his immediate
answer to the prayer of a humble heart. God, in Jesus, is a God who constantly
stretches out his hand to save the lowly.
Thus the idea that comes through
powerfully from the readings is that it is indeed God who builds even if on
weak human structures. Without his sustenance nothing can really stand.
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