Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church

Homily for August 21, 2005
Liturgical Year A-Cycle I
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. John Carney
 Topic: God's Authority on Earth
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Gospel
Mt 16:13-20
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and 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."  Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

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This gospel that we have just heard proclaimed is one that we’re very familiar with.  Actually, the passage we just heard is the hinge in all of Matthew’s gospels.  Everything before this chapter has led up to this moment and from this moment on, Jesus will continue to the cross and resurrection.   Everything Jesus had done, the miracles he worked, the teachings that he gave, led to this question: “Who do you say that I am?”  The disciples hedged their bets.  They said, “Well, some say you are Elijah.  Some say John the Baptist. Some say one of the prophets.”  You notice they said, “Some people say”.  He said, “But who do you say that I am?”  It was Simon Bar-Jonah, Simon son of John, who said, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God, the Messiah.”  Jesus says, “Blessed are you Simon.  You are Peter.”  He changed his name.  “You are the rock upon which I will build my church.  And the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  Whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven.  Whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven.” 

There are a number of questions that we’ll look at today.  Did Jesus give Peter authority over the Church?  But a preliminary question could be: Does God give human beings authority at all?  Did God give Abraham authority to move his people from Haran into what would become Israel?  Did God give Moses authority to lead his people out of captivity in Egypt?  Did God give Joshua the authority to lead his people into the Promised Land?  Did God give David the authority to lead the people of Israel?  Indeed, there are even lesser figures. In today’s first reading, did God give Eliakim authority?  I’ll answer that with the scripture.  “I will give him authority.”  What happened, by the way, is that the prophet removed the chief scribe of Jerusalem from his authority because he had permitted syncretism to happen within the religion.  He took a blend of various religions.   The Jewish faith was becoming syncretic, kind of the ‘new age’ of its day, if you will.  The scripture says, “I will give him authority, Eliakim.  He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.  I will place the key of the house of David on Eliakim’s shoulder.  When he opens, no one shall shut.  When he shuts no one shall open.  I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot.”  Did God give him authority? 

Again, the question: Did Jesus give Peter and his successors authority over the Church?  We know he changed his name and that wasn’t the first time we see that in scripture.  When God gave Abraham authority to lead his people he changed his name.  His name was Abram and it became Abraham.  When God made Jacob the head of the nation of Israel he changed his name from Jacob to Israel.  When God calls Saul to be the apostle to the Gentiles he changed his name from Saul to Paul.  In each of these cases, it’s clear that a name change means a mission change.  God is signifying by changing the name that they had been given a mission and with that mission, of course, the authority.  “Whatever you declare bound is bound and loosed is loosed.”  Indeed, Jesus fixed Peter like a peg in a sure spot to be the leader of his church, His vicar on Earth. 

Maybe the real question though, for so many people, is not this question at all.  Maybe it’s the question: Should I let the Church have authority over me, the authority that Jesus gave to Peter or will I be my own Pope?  Will I determine the doctrine and dogma of the Church of Jesus Christ?  Many have answered, “Yes”.  Indeed, many Catholics have answered yes.  We Catholics believe and there is no doubt about our belief that the Pope, the successor of Peter, has a position of supreme authority in the Church.  Frankly, can you imagine if there was no Pope, if no one was in charge?  Although, sometimes the local church seems like that is the case.  Can you imagine if there was no authority, if we were sheep without a shepherd, each left to his own?  I think that would be cruel of God to do to us.  We need authority and that authority is the Pope.  Indeed, staying faithful to Jesus depends on staying in communion with the faithful, the Church.  Some church teachings are difficult because Jesus’ expectations of us are very high.  He calls himself, “the straight gate through which we must pass, the narrow way”.

The Church authority though, is not harsh.  It’s not forced on anyone.  Indeed, each and every one of us has the right to assent to the Church or not to.  If we’re Catholics, if we claim to be in full communion with the Catholic Church, we accept the authority of the Pope.  It is each and every one of us, our personal choices to do so.  No one is forced.  There’s no ongoing inquisition.  Everyone is free to choose as they wish.  I think the beauty of accepting the authority of the church is that when we do assent, we enter into a place of trust, safety, security, shelter, and peace.  The Papacy is a gift to us.  It’s not a burden.  Having a Pope is a great gift to us; having a leader who is our Holy Father, our loving Father, is a great gift to us all.
 
You know, it’s hard to be the Pope.  I don’t know anyone who would want the job.  Well, that’s not true.  I know some who would love to be the Pope.  I think the first requirement to be Pope should be that you don’t want to be Pope. The reason I say that is with authority, grave authority, comes grave responsibility and total commitment.  You know when the Pope is chosen by the cardinals and he agrees to become the Pope, he goes into a room.  It’s called the Room of Tears. He goes in there all by himself.  He comes out then dressed in his papal vestments.  They say that some Popes have stayed in there a long time, most of them crying because in a real way, the moment they say yes, they die to themselves.  They don’t have a life anymore.  They don’t have a personal life at all.  They give themselves totally to us as their children, as His children.
 
I think we need to talk about this, at least once a year, on this Sunday, when we hear this gospel or another version of it, from one of the other gospel writers. It’s important because many people malign the Holy Father.  Indeed, many who call themselves Catholic criticize him viciously at times.  When Benedict XVI was chosen as our Pope the pundits were all over the airwaves, many of them priests, criticizing Benedict before he even said, “Good morning” to us.  We can’t do that.  We have a great gift in the Holy Father and we need to appreciate him and pray for him. 

It seems though that young people understand this better than some old people and certainly better than some theologians.  We all remember the cry of “John Paul II, we love you”.  Last night, there were 800,000 gathered in Cologne to hear and to cheer the Holy Father, Benedict XVI.  Most of them were young people.  More than a dozen were from Los Alamos.

We thank God for the gift of Peter and his successors.  We will listen attentively to him and be grateful for his guidance and his teachings.  I’d like to pray for our Holy Father now.  I hope we do that every day.  We do it in every mass.  If you’d bow your heads with me we’ll pray.

Father we pray for your protection and guidance over our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI.  Give him strength and wisdom to stand as a prophet for our times.  May he be a light in darkness around which we gather in hope.  We ask you to bring about reconciliation through his faithful teaching of peace and justice.  Grant him compassion and care to live the gospel in love and service to all people.  Let him follow in the path of Peter, who filled with the Holy Spirit, preached that the Lord saves all who call upon His name.

We ask this today and always, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.