From: 1 Peter 5:1-4
To Priests
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Commentary:
1-4. In many New Testament text, the Greek terms “presbyteros” and “episco-
pos” mean the same, being used indiscriminately to designate pastors of local
communities (cf., e.g., Acts 11:30; 20:28; and notes on same). From the se-
cond century on, the terminology became fixed: “episcopoi” (bishops) have the
fullness of the sacrament of Order and are responsible for local churches; “pres-
byteroi” (elders, later designated as priests) carry out the priestly ministry as co-
workers of the bishops. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that Paul and Barnabas
ordained priests in the various churches of Asia Minor (cf. Acts 14:23), to which
St Peter is now writing (1 Pet 1:1).
The Prince of the Apostles here addresses them formally. Although he refers to
himself as one of them—a “fellow elder [priest]”—he is distinguishing himself as
a witness of the sufferings of Christ and “a partaker in the glory that is to be re-
vealed” (this is possibly an allusion to the Transfiguration, at which he was given
a foretaste of that glory: cf. Mt 17:1ff; 2 Pet 1:16-18).
St Peter’s exhortation (vv. 2-3) recall those of our Lord when he spoke about the
Good Shepherd (Jn 10:1ff) and when he told Peter after the Resurrection, “Feed
my lambs....Feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15-17). The Magisterium of the Church has
often drawn inspiration from these words when reminding pastors of their duties:
“As to the faithful, they (the priests) should bestow their paternal attention and
solicitude on them, whom they have begotten spiritually through baptism and in-
struction (cf. 1 Cor 4:15; 1 Pet 1:23). Gladly constituting themselves models of
the flock (cf. 1 Pet 5:3), they should preside over and serve their local communi-
ty in such a way that it may deserve to be called by the name which is given to
the unique People of God in its entirety, that is to say, the Church of God (cf.
Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:21; and passim). They should be mindful that by their daily con-
duct and solicitude they display the reality of a truly priestly and pastoral minis-
try both to believers and unbelievers alike, to Catholics and non-Catholics; that
they are bound to bear witness before all men of the truth and of the life, and as
good shepherds seek after those too (cf. Lk 15:4-7) who, whilst having been bap-
tized in the Catholic Church, have given up the practice of the sacraments, or
even fallen away from the faith” (”Lumen Gentium”, 28; cf. No. 41).
If they approach their responsibilities in this way, they will have no reason to
fear the Judgment (v. 4); the Lord will make himself present to them as “the chief
Shepherd”, whom they have tried to imitate in their care of the flock, and they will
receive “the unfading crown of glory” (cf. note on Jas 1:12). “When the moment
comes for them to enter God’s presence, Jesus will go out to meet them. He will
glorify forever those who have acted on earth in his Person and in his name. He
will shower them with that grace of which they have been ministers” (St. J. Escri-
va, “In Love with the Church”, 50).
3. St Gregory the Great teaches that the pastor of souls “should always give the
lead, to show by his example the way to life, so that his flock (who follow the
voice and the actions of the pastor) are guided more by example than by words;
his position obliges him to speak of elevated things, and also to manifest them
personally; the word more easily gains access to the hearts of hearers when it
carries with it the endorsement of the life of him who when giving instructions as-
sists in their fulfillment by his own example” (”Regulae Pastoralis Liber”, 2, 3).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 16:13-19
Peter’s Profession of Faith and His Primacy
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Commentary:
13-20. In this passage St. Peter is promised primacy over the whole Church, a
primacy which Jesus will confer on him after His Resurrection, as we learn in
the Gospel of St. John (cf. John 21:15-18). This supreme authority is given to
Peter for the benefit of the Church. Because the Church has to last until the end
of time, this authority will be passed on to Peter’s successors down through his-
tory. The Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is the successor of Peter.
The solemn Magisterium of the Church, in the First Vatican Council, defined the
doctrine of the primacy of Peter and his successors in these terms: “We teach
and declare, therefore, according to the testimony of the Gospel that the prima-
cy of jurisdiction over the whole Church was immediately and directly promised
to and conferred upon the blessed Apostle Peter by Christ the Lord. For to Si-
mon, Christ had said, ‘You shall be called Cephas’ (John 1:42). Then, after Si-
mon had acknowledged Christ with the confession, ‘You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God’ (Matthew 16:16), it was to Simon alone that the solemn words
were spoken by the Lord: ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona. For flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. And I tell
you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of
Hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and what you loose
on earth shall be loosed in Heaven’ (Matthew 16:17-19). And after His Resurrec-
tion, Jesus conferred upon Simon Peter alone the jurisdiction of supreme shep-
herd and ruler over His whole fold with the words, ‘Feed My lambs....Feed My
sheep’ (John 21: 15-17) [...]
“Now, what Christ the Lord, Supreme Shepherd and watchful guardian of the
flock, established in the person of the blessed Apostle Peter for the perpetual
safety and everlasting good of the Church must, by the will of the same, endure
without interruption in the Church which was founded on the rock and which will
remain firm until the end of the world. Indeed, ‘no one doubts, in fact it is obvious
to all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, Prince and head of the Apos-
tles, the pillar of faith, and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received the
keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and the Redeemer of
the human race; and even to this time and forever he lives,’ and governs, ‘and ex-
ercises judgment in his successors’ (cf. Council of Ephesus), the bishops of the
holy Roman See, which he established and consecrated with his blood. There-
fore, whoever succeeds Peter in this Chair holds Peter’s primacy over the whole
Church according to the plan of Christ Himself [...]. For this reason, ‘because of
its greater sovereignty,’ it was always ‘necessary for every church, that is, the
faithful who are everywhere, to be in agreement’ with the same Roman Church
[...]
“We think it extremely necessary to assert solemnly the prerogative which the
only-begotten Son of God deigned to join to the highest pastoral office. “And so,
faithfully keeping to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith,
for the glory of God our Savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and for
the salvation of Christian peoples, We, with the approval of the sacred council,
teach and define that it is a divinely revealed dogma: that the Roman Pontiff,
when he speaks “ex cathedra”, that is, when, acting in the office of shepherd
and teacher of all Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic au-
thority, doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal Church,
possesses through the divine assistance promised to him in the person of St.
Peter, the infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed His Church to be en-
dowed in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals; and that such definitions
of the Roman Pontiff are therefore irreformable because of their nature, but not
because of the agreement of the Church.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.