Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 9, 2007 - Eighteenth Thursday in Ordinary Time
[Numbers 20:1-13 and Matthew 16:13-23]Jesus 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."
The one thing that almost anyone on earth who has ever even heard of the Catholic Church knows is that the Pope is in charge! As high school kids taking a class in "apologetics" (how to defend the truths of the Catholic faith), we were required to memorize this passage from St. Matthew to use against anyone who criticized the Catholic church for not being a democracy, etc. etc.. I even won a medal from Bishop Greco of Alexandria for reciting it from memory during the confirmation ceremony! No matter how any of us may feel about the way the papacy has been manifested at various points in history, it seems clear that Jesus gave complete authority to Peter who shared it with the other apostles and disciples, which is the source of "apostolic succession." Some popes have been truly great and holy persons. Some have been scoundrels. The way the office of the papacy has been exercised over the many centuries has also changed (the church was not always as centralized in authority as it is now). In my own lifetime, I have experienced the ministry of six popes. Their tenures lasted from one month to twenty-six years. They were all very different from one another. Yet, the truth expressed in the gospel passage remains: Peter's authority rests in the profession of faith in Christ, not in his individual personality (which was very impulsive) or even in his leadership qualities (which appear to have been strong). This is the "rock." The Pope represents the faith of us all as Catholics. We may not like the policies or leadership style of a given Pope. We may be upset at the decisions of some of his curial congregations in Rome. But we (and whoever is Pope) cannot escape the challenge of the Lord and the consistent reality of the Petrine ministry in the history and development of the Church. Remembering that the Pope is the "Vicar of Christ," and not Christ himself, may help us to maintain a sense of perspective. The first deserves our respect and intelligent obedience. The second deserves our faith and adoration. AMEN
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