THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Tuesday of seventh week in Ordinary time, 2022

1Pet 5:1-4

Ps 23

Matt 16:13-19

Feast of the Chair of Peter, Apostle.

You are Peter

In the world of Jesus and the early church, teachers used to sit to teach and pupils gathered around them. 

The chair of Peter is a symbol of the teaching role of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope of the Universal church. It is this teaching role that Jesus gives to Peter in today’s gospel when he says to him, ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven’. Keys are a symbol of authority and the language of loosening and binding suggests that teaching authority is intended. Peter is being given the authority to declare which elements of the teaching of Jesus are binding and which elements can be interpreted more loosely. The early church understood that Peter had a special role in interpreting the teaching of Jesus for the emerging church. 

Within our own Roman Catholic tradition, we understand that this teaching authority given by Jesus to Peter has always resided with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope of the Universal Church. It is a claim that is disputed by other traditions within the Christian family. The Lord speaks to the church in a whole variety of ways, but as Catholics we believe that the Lord speaks in a unique way through the one we call, ‘Our Holy Father’, which is currently Pope Francis. He is very aware that the Lord speaks to him through the whole church, every member in every part of the world. That is why he is calling on the church throughout the world to come together in a synodal way, to gather to listen to each other and in doing so to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church today. All good teachers are also good pupils and that is especially true of teachers of the faith. Pope Francis, without compromising his teaching authority, is showing us that he has much to learn from all the faithful. Hopefully, this synodal pathway will help us all to appreciate the ways that the Holy Spirit can speak through all the members of the church.

Let us pray: Father, thank you for the Church, which keeps Satan from exploiting our human weaknesses to cause disunity and defeat. Amen.

+Remain blessed