Year A - 21st Sunday in ordinary time You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church Matthew 16:13-20 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
(NRSV)Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus The people who knew me, and even some of my disciples admired me as a great prophet, they compared me with John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or other prophets.
It was by divine inspiration that Peter was prompted to say about me: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
By this he accepted me as the Savior of the world, the promised Messiah who had come to deliver God’s people from the bondage of sin. Right at that moment he placed me above all the prophets, he acknowledged the special dignity of my presence among them, not just as his Lord and Master, but also as the Savior of the world. He went on to say that I was the Son of the Living God.
By this declaration he acknowledged total faith in me, not only as the Messiah, but as the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnate Word of God who became a man to suffer for the salvation of the world.
His great faith in me was immediately rewarded by my words. "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Just as in the Old Testament, Genesis 17:5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. Or Genesis 32:28 "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed."
I changed Simon’s name to Peter, the rock, on which I built my Church. I delegated my authority to him and to those appointed by him. I gave him the power to administer the sacraments of salvation; I gave him the wisdom to continue my work despite his human weaknesses.
I said to Peter and to my apostles, Luke 10:16 "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
It saddens me to see the stubbornness of men who disregard these words of wisdom and turn against my Church, which was founded on my own flesh and blood and still stands under the direction of Peter’s successors.
In my flesh and blood, which is found in my Catholic Church, I am the way, the truth and the life. |
