Does God Use Smart Locks ?

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi   and 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." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

We modern Catholics lose some of the symbolism that Jesus is using in today's reading.  First of all, we live in a democracy and we vote on things with the majority being considered the way to go.  This is not so in the time of Jesus. In His time, there was an emperor who held complete power, supposedly under the advisement of the Senate.  Well. senators that disagreed with the emperor were easily replaced by the emperor so the Senate was a rubber stamp for whatever made the emperor happy.  In little Israel, it too was a kingdom under the emperor in Rome who was represented by the Procurator and/or Governor and the kingdom was divided amongst three brothers of whom Herod the Tetrarch was the one with whom Jesus was familiar with.  Each of these despots had ministers that did their bidding.  The chief minister, the second in command was the prime minister. An emperor or king might have dozens of ministers in charge of this or that but they all reported to one minister, the prime minister.  Ordinary ministers could make decisions.  The prime minister had the authority to override the other ministers.  A door that a minister locked could not be opened by anyone except the king or his representative, the prime minister. 

This is how the Kingdom of God is organized. There are many ministers in the kingdom doing God's work and there is one prime minister, the Pope who receives his authority from Jesus Himself as we read in today's reading.  It could not be any plainer.  Peter is appointed the prime minister of the Kingdom of God and given the keys to the kingdom.  He is given the authority to bind and loosen by Jesus himself.  The prime minister was to act in the name of his master the king and rule in the same manner,  following the same principles as the ruler.  The job of prime minister was a job that had to be filled.  If the prime minister died or as we see in Isaiah 22 15:24, he displeases the king and is fired, a new prime minister is immediately appointed by the king.  The mantle of office is removed and given to the new Prime Minister and the keys come into his control.  

This is why we have a pope in Rome.  He is the prime minister of God's kingdom on earth.  He traces his lineage in an unbroken line back to Peter on that day when Christ said that "You are Peter, that is rock and upon this rock, I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."  These are mighty words and they remind us of one important concept, the Church belongs to Jesus, it is a kingdom, we do not get to vote.  We get to trust in the ultimate goodness of the King of Kings and the honorable servitude of his Prime Minister, the Pope.  

But the Pope is but a man, how can we be sure what he teaches is correct?  We are given assurance from the King, that is Jesus, that the Prime Minister, the Pope, will be guarded against ever teaching heresy.  It is the King's word in the Gospel of Matthre that we can trust and that is blessed assurance that all will be well with God's Kingdom on earth. 

PRAY FOR THE POOR SOULS IN PURGATORY

You may not be a minister, and yet in God's kingdom, you have the power to open and shut when it comes to our brothers and sisters in Purgatory.  They cannot help themselves as the time for cleaning the effects of sin on the soul is when life is coursing through our bodies, not after death. They depend on the charity of those on Earth to help them after death.  Help lessen the time a soul you might or might not know has to remain in Purgatory.  Pray for them today, an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be takes but a moment of your time and it means so much to them!  Say the Rosary for them daily if you can. Dedicate your Mass to them and offer the graces that you receive from your act of devotion for them. Remember my friend, as they are today, someday (maybe soon) you too may be.