Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord give you peace. Today we celebrate a special feast which reminds us of the authoritative Church our Lord instituted to safeguard, promote and treasure the truth he revealed for all time until he returns in glory. A chief player in all of that was Saint Peter, upon whom as we hear in today’s gospel, Jesus builds his Church, initiating the long chain of successors which we can trace all the way back to him from Pope Francis, for whom we offer particular prayers at this time during his illness.
One of the things that strikes us from the onset, when examining the appointment of Simon to the “See of Peter” is that out of the twelve he was most likely the least talented, and perhaps even the least willing to take on such a role. We know that Peter for example, after some time (months perhaps) of following the Lord, almost shows us his reluctance when he asked, “We who have left everything to follow you, what do we get in return?” Matthew 19:27. That doesn’t sound like someone who was ready to dive head first into ministry. In fact, there’s a hint of selfishness in the question. Nevertheless, Jesus entertains it not with a sharp admonition to get over himself, but an encouragement to Peter: “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”
In this seemingly plea-bargaining kind of way, Jesus accompanies Peter on his journey, with language that would make sense to him and an invitation that was too good to pass up. However, it would necessitate a very strong faith, for in Jesus’ response there’s a lot of promises. Could Jesus be trusted? Who was Jesus exactly, and how was Peter warming up to him as being the true Messiah?
By the time the episode in today’s Gospel roles around, Peter seems to be fully convinced, aided by the Heavenly Father’s grace, that Jesus is indeed the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of the living God.
It is at this moment that Jesus calls him blessed, and changes his name from Simon to Peter, which means “rock.” And then Jesus sheds light on his plans for Peter’s future role. Look at the way Matthew 16:15-19 is structured. After Peter gives a confession about the identity of Jesus, the Lord does the same in return for Peter. He gives Peter a threefold blessing, including the gift of the keys to the kingdom and establishing papal authority.
To believe that Jesus is downplaying Peter flies in the face of the context. Jesus is installing Peter as a form of chief steward or prime minister under the King of Kings by giving him the keys to the kingdom. As can be seen in Isaiah 22:22, kings in the Old Testament appointed a chief steward to serve under them in a position of great authority to rule over the inhabitants of the kingdom. Jesus quotes almost verbatim from this passage in Isaiah, and so it is clear what he has in mind. He is raising Peter up as a father figure to the entire Church (Isaiah 22:21), to lead and shepherd the flock (John 21:15-17). This authority of the prime minister under the king was passed on from one man to another down through the ages by the giving of the keys, which were worn on the shoulder as a sign of authority. Likewise, the authority of Peter has been passed down for 2000 years by means of the papacy. God’s order of things is beautiful. It is clear, and beautiful. Yet it is pretty evident that Peter and his successors retained their flawed human nature. What we mean by Papal Infallibility will be left to another homily, but it certainly does not mean impeccability, or absolute knowledge of all things, and it does mean that in matters of faith and salvation, when making ex-cathedra pronouncements, the successors of Peter, like Peter himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, cannot err. Again, different homily for a different time. Suffice it to say, that even in his frail, even sinful human nature, God nevertheless works with his anointed, whoever he may be.
Therefore, as I stated at the onset, let us keep Pope Francis in our prayers as he goes through his illness. This papacy has undeniably been a complicated and at times a confusing one, and yet, God can still move, work, in his mysterious ways to strengthen our resolve for truth, goodness and a greater care and reverence for all things holy.
May the Queen of Apostles who walked with Peter and strengthened him in moments of difficulty be also with all his successors, for without our visible head on earth, Christ’s mystical body would be wandering in the desert, lost and without direction, and we know that that can never be. Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
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