Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- Prevailing With Ekklesia Offense

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 6-29-2023 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Matthew 16:13-19

Friends, in today’s Gospel,
Jesus declares that the gates of hell (“the netherworld”) shall not prevail
against his Church.
And Jesus insists that this society,
grounded in Peter’s confession,
would constitute an army so powerful that not even the fortified capital
of the dark kingdom itself could withstand it.

It is fascinating to me how often we construe this saying of Jesus
in precisely the opposite direction,
as though the Church is guaranteed safety against the onslaughts of hell.
In point of fact, Jesus is suggesting a much more aggressive image:
his Church will lay successful siege upon the kingdom of evil,
knocking down its gate and breaching its walls.

And notice, too, how Jesus uses the future tense—
“I will build my Church.”
Therefore he cannot be speaking simply of Peter personally
but of all those who would participate in his charism throughout the centuries.
The integrity of this ekklesia will be guaranteed up and down the centuries—
not through appeal to popular opinion (as instructive as that might be)
nor through the ministrations of an institutional or theological elite
(as necessary as those might be)
but rather through the pope’s charismatic knowledge of who Jesus is.

[MurphsLaw]

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

+++When Jesus went into the
region of Caesarea Philippi
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.”+++