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and pull you down from your station.
On that day I will summon my servant
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah;
I will clothe him with your robe,
and gird him with your sash,
and give over to him your authority.
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.
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.
In today's world, it is not the same as in the time of Eliakim or for that matter, the time of Jesus and Peter so we may not understand these two readings as well as we can. Today, the more important you are, the fewer keys you have. Can you imagine Queen Elizabeth arriving back from an outing and fumbling around in her ever present purse for the keys to Buckingham Palace? Or can you imagine the President of the United States looking in his pants pocket for the key to the White House? So we need to understand just a little about keys. In ancient times, keys were not the small little thing we keep on a key ring in our pockets. Because of the technology keys were much more cumbersome and they were not something the common person would normally have. Keys were given to ministers in the employ of the king to keep valuables safe. An ordinary minister would have command of the things he was commissioned to take care of but still under the guidance and supervision of the king or in his absence, the prime minister. When the king was away or just didn't feel like intervening in day to day things he would appoint a prime minister in his place. This prime minister was positioned at the apex of the food chain. An ordinary minister could decide on goods that were placed into his care but the prime minister could override any other minister. The doors that the prime minister said should be opened, would be opened and no one could shut them without his permission. What the prime minister ordered shut, could not be opened until he said it could. His word had the same effect as if spoken from the lips of the king.
Nothing that is written in the Bible is there by happenstance. It is there for a reason. My pastor, Father Joe says that In our Gospel reading today, Jesus is checking to see what effect His message is having among the people. Somewhat like what a politician would do today. His disciples share with Him what the current gossip. Then Jesus asks them, who do they say He is. You could have heard a pin drop. They were just a bit shy at saying what they thought. Then, Peter jumps us and says what all of them were probably thinking that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah that Israel has been waiting for. Jesus tells Simon that his name is now Peter (which means rock) and upon this rock (Peter) Jesus would build his Church. He then gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom and said that what he bound in heaven was bound and what he loosened on earth was loosened in heaven.
Notice that in the first reading that there is a change of regime and a bad Prime Minister is removed from office by God and a new one is appointed. That shows that for the kingdom there is continuity of government. The office outlives the person who is holding it. This is the same principle in the Kingdom of God. The prime minister for the Kingdom of God will continue after the death of Peter and after the death of all the original Apostles. The new leader, who we call the Pope will have all the authority of Peter and the guarantee that the Holy Spirit will keep the teachings and doctrines of the church pure.
Protestants have some strange ideas about the Pope. They think that we believe he is Christ on earth for us. The popes themselves give a lie to this fanciful thought because the popes have been known to go to confession at least weekly. If they thought that they were sinless there would be no reason for them to go to confession. The pope is Infallible when teaching on faith or morals, and only then. When he proclaims a doctrine from the Chair of Peter (he might be standing up LOL) the Holy Spirit protects him from teaching error. Scott Hahn says it best, the pope is infallible but he is not impeccable. Pope Francis in his daily conversation, in his impromptu comments, in his sermons, speaks with authority but does not speak infallibly.
Remember too, that the main title of the pope is "The servant of the servants of the people of God." His rule is one of service and yes, there have been popes that have forgotten this truth and there have been popes that served no one but themselves. Yet, from the beginning until now no pope, either good or bad. saintly or worldly, has ever taught heresy. The good pops because they were good and were operating for the good of the church and the bad ones did not have the time or the inclination to bother with doctrine because it took time away from lining their pockets, dating and debauching which is what they were about.
It is a Protestant belief that every Christian can interpret the Bible for themselves and that the Holy Spirit will guide them to the correct interpretation. We can see how well that has worked out because today we have thirty thousand or so versions of Christianity each claiming that they have the correct interpretation. The Catholic Church and her popes through the ages gathered the collection of books that we call the Bible together. Over the years the Church and her popes stepped in and gave the authoritative meaning of troublesome passages. Protestants say that they are free to interpret the Bible and we are under the yoke of the Church. Well, the average Protestant gets his Bible interpretation from his pastor who in effect is acting as a pope of the Christian community he is in charge of. Pastor Bob at the First Baptist might say "X" and Pastor Ben at Fifth Non-Denomination Church might say "Y" about the same passage, while in the pew Mr. Jones believes "Z" and thinks his pastor is full of hot air. Being a Protestant can be very confusing.
Who was it that first proclaimed the Gospel to the people of Jerusalem on Pentecost? It was Peter :
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. (Acts 2:14)
Who spoke on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration? It was Peter. In all of the controversies that came up, there was discussion and argument on each side of the issue right up until Peter spoke. Once Peter spoke, that was it, deal done!
So I am glad I am a Catholic. There is nothing like not having to guess what I have to do and believe to be a good Christian. It feels good to know that there is a place where the buck stops and ultimate truth is dispensed to refresh the souls of all who are ready to listen.
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