20200823 THE PETRINE MINISTRY
23 August, 2020, Sunday, 21st Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading | Isaiah 22:19-23 © |
I place the key of the House of David on my servant's shoulder
Thus says the Lord of Hosts to Shebna, the master of the palace:
I dismiss you from your office,
I remove you from your post,
and the same day I call on my servant
Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
I invest him with your robe,
gird him with your sash,
entrust him with your authority;
and he shall be a father
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and to the House of Judah.
I place the key of the House of David
on his shoulder;
should he open, no one shall close,
should he close, no one shall open.
I drive him like a peg
into a firm place;
he will become a throne of glory
for his father’s house.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 137(138):1-3,6,8 © |
Your love, O Lord, is eternal: discard not the work of your hands.
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal: discard not the work of your hands.
I thank you for your faithfulness and love,
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal: discard not the work of your hands.
The Lord is high yet he looks on the lowly
and the haughty he knows from afar.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal: discard not the work of your hands.
Second reading | Romans 11:33-36 © |
All that exists comes from him; all is by him and from him.
How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything? All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.
Gospel Acclamation | 2Co5:19 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt16:18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
You are Peter
and on this rock I will build my Church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 16:13-20 © |
You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
THE PETRINE MINISTRY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [IS 22:19-23; PS 138:1-3, 6, 8; ROM 11:33-36; MATT 16:13-20 ]
Today’s gospel text gives rise to one of the most contentious doctrinal disagreements Roman Catholics have with the Protestants. In the mind of the Catholic Church, the right interpretation of this text is as clear as daylight. Peter has been appointed as the head of the Church because Jesus declared to Peter after his confession of faith, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.” For us Catholics, this decree of our Lord is obvious. Peter is the rock on which the Church would be established. But leadership must come with authority. Accordingly, we also affirm that Peter has supreme authority over the Church, whether spiritual or juridical authority, for the Lord said to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.” To be given the keys simply means to be given the power over the House of God, just as Eliakim son of Hilkiah was entrusted with authority over the House of Judah. The Lord said, “I place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; should he open, no one shall close, should he close, no one shall open.”
However, what is so clear to us is not so clear to our Protestant brethren. There are other interpretations offered for this text. Some scholars suggest that the rock refers to Jesus Himself because only God is the rock. “The Rock, his work is perfect, and all his ways are just.” (Dt 32:4) “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge.” (Ps 18:2) Jesus is always seen as the cornerstone of the Church. St Peter wrote, “Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pt 2:4f) Then there are those who suggest that the rock refers to the faith in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Anyone who has this faith in Christ will withstand any onslaught by the world. If we have faith in Jesus as the Son of God, we have nothing to fear and we will accept every word that Jesus taught without compromise. By extension, the rock also refers to those who share the faith of Peter; like Peter, they too will be living stones of the Church with Christ as the Rock.
However, all these explanations, whilst acceptable and enriching to our understanding of the rock, fails to take into the fact that Peter was undeniably recognized as the leader of the apostles and the Church, not just by our Lord but also by the apostles and the primitive Church and throughout the history of Christianity. Throughout the gospel, Peter has always been mentioned as first among all the apostles. He is the one that the Lord singled out to feed and look after His sheep. (Jn 21:15-19) He is the one the Lord instructed to strengthen his brothers after he recovered from his fall. “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:31f) In the resurrection, although John reached the tomb first, he deferred to Peter to go into the tomb. (Jn 20:3-9)
However, there can be no effective leadership without authority. This authority of course is primarily a moral and spiritual authority. Without this authority, juridical authority alone cannot make a person a leader. In fact, juridical authority without moral and spiritual authority will lead to corruption and abuse. This was the case of Shebna, the master of the palace of the House of David, whom the Lord dismissed from office. He was using his authority for his personal interests, prestige and fame. He even built a special tomb for himself on one of the mountains to perpetuate his name. Authority therefore is necessary but it must be used rightly for service to truth and unity. Authority is not for one’s ego.
Accordingly, Peter is given the spiritual, moral and juridical authority over the Church. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.” By this we mean that the Holy Father has supreme authority over all matters of the Church and is infallible when he proclaims and defines doctrines and morals solemnly, that is “ex Cathedra”, from his chair. This is because Jesus has gifted St Peter and His successors with the knowledge that could only come from divine revelation as in the case of St Peter’s confession. When “Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.” This does not mean that the Pope is not a sinner. Indeed, he is a sinner among us and that is why he always asks us to pray for him for he is not perfect.
Again, Protestants differ in interpreting the kind of authority given to Peter or those who share in the faith of Peter in Jesus as the Son of the Living God. According to them, this authority is not so much to retain sins but to set people free from sins and to receive people into the Church. This authority to proclaim the forgiveness of sins was given to Peter and by extension to the apostles and the disciples. Indeed, in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter was the one who delivered the first homily at Pentecost and brought about 3000 converts to the Faith. (Acts 2:14-41) He was the one who opened the gate of Christianity to the Gentiles, first to Cornelius the Gentile Centurion (Acts 10) and then at the Council of Jerusalem, testifying to the fact that God welcomes the Gentiles and Jews alike. (Acts 15:6-11)
At the end of the day, the real crux of the Protestants’ difficulty with accepting the Pope as the Head of the Church and his authority over the Church is the fear of his absolute authority. This is why today the Church does not want to speak too much about papal authority or even papal infallibility because the former is hardly exercised nowadays. Even if it is exercised, this authority is never exercised independent of the Magisterium, the College of Bishops. It is the duty of the Pope to consult the Magisterium and when he speaks, he must be speaking as the head of the Apostolic College. It is a collegial responsibility.
Hence, today, the Church speaks of the Petrine ministry and not the papacy. The office of the Holy Father with the accompanying authority is not to control the Church in an authoritative and arbitrary manner. Authority is for the service of truth and unity. There cannot be unity without truth. If Christianity is so divided today with so many different Christian denominations due to differing interpretations, it is precisely because there is no central authority. Wherever we are not just in the Christian community, among followers of other religions, in politics and in the corporate world, there will always be diverse views and opinions. It is impossible to gather a consensus for truth because truth is not decided by votes and popular opinion. Someone must make a decision for the good of the community, after all the consultations, dialogue and prayers. So the office of the Holy Father is to safeguard the deposit of faith so that the Church will always remain united in faith, love and hope. This is what the Petrine Ministry is all about. The Pope remains for us Catholics, even though we might have different views on certain matters, the sole authority and symbol of the Church’s faith and our unity.
Again, this requires faith in Jesus who appointed St Peter to be the vicar of His Church and promised His divine assistance. St Paul in today’s second reading was in a dilemma regarding the fate of the Chosen People of God, Israel, who rejected the Messiah. He concluded that God in His wisdom and divine plan will bring about Gentiles and Jews to salvation. He could not explain it but he trusted in God’s wisdom and power. He said, “How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything?” We, too, in faith must rely on God’s grace to protect the Holy Father and the Church from all errors and confusion so that we will remain strong in our faith, united in love and in hope.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment