21st Sunday Year A, 2023

(Isaiah 22:19-23; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20) 

 

Simon Peter, speaking in the name of all the Apostles had answered Jesus’ question, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ by a characteristic, and categorical, statement:

            You are the Christ the Son of the living God.

Now Nathanael from Galilee had earlier been quite decisive when Philip told him about Jesus, by saying, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’; and when -- on meeting Nathanael -- Jesus Himself had showed no hesitation in saying most decisively, ‘Here is a true Israelite.  There is no duplicity in him.’

Nevertheless, when, at that their very first meeting, Nathanael then went on to say to Jesus:

            Rabbi, you are the son of God, you are the King of Israel,

 Jesus did not think Nathanael had been inspired by His Father even though his words were very much like the words Peter would subsequently use.  Indeed, Jesus would seem to have thought that Nathanael believed too much, too easily; for He somewhat casually said, ‘You will see greater things than this’.

Perhaps I can say that Jesus ’saw’ Nathanael (Bartholomew) with the eyes of Jesus of Nazareth, but at the critical junction of Peter’s ‘confession’, Jesus saw and recognized Peter with the eyes of the Incarnate Son of God, instantly and supremely aware of, and responsive to, His Father.

Jesus, immediately recognizing a revelation by His Heavenly Father behind Peter’s typically enthusiastic and decisive words, therefore most solemnly declared:

And so, (because of My Father’s revelation to you) 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.

People of God, the ‘rock’ supporting Jesus’ Church is Peter-confessing-Jesus-as Son-of- God and that is Peter’s supreme function in Mother Church, as leader of Jesus’ chosen Apostles:  to proclaim Jesus.  Nothing must be allowed to detract from, or overshadow, that function for which Peter was chosen by the Father and confirmed by Jesus as leader for His future Church: to confess and proclaim Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God and Saviour of mankind, to all the world.

The Pope is not meant to be a model for, or the chief of, do-gooders, nor is he meant to be afraid of, or succumb-to, the modern ‘woke’ people who, though they have no need of God in the ‘simplicity of their hearts’, nevertheless pretend to do such good for our world: a ‘good’ tailored to give the majority status and enjoyment … ‘enjoyment’ is so very necessary for appreciation in their set-up!

‘Do-gooders’, new-age ‘woke-ones’, proclaim their version of goodness for our world today; Peter – the model for all Popes -- proclaimed Jesus, Who in turn proclaimed His Father’s will for the world, as the only sublime and saving goodness for mankind.

Our Pope is meant to be Peter for the Church today, not an acclaimed ‘do gooder’, but rather a hated (‘if they hated Me they will hate you also’) witness to Him sent by His Father to  save mankind from its servitude to sin; to decisively proclaim Jesus as the Son of God and promote the rule of His Spirit in the hearts of men as did Peter in his own unique way.

The history of Eliakim shows what could hinder any Pope’s fulfilment of his office.  Eliakim’s elevation brought honour for his family; we are told the Lord said:

            I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honour for his family.

It was then that the trouble began:

On him shall hang all the glory of his family: descendants and offspring, all the little dishes, from bowls to jugs.

The family began to take over the man: relatives of all sorts came to him with their requests and needs and, in that way, the family began to gradually smother the public servant authorised by God:

On that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg fixed in a sure spot shall give way, break off and fall, and the weight that hung on it shall be done away with; for the Lord has spoken.

The Old Testament examples of Shebna and Eliakim thus enable us to espy something of the wisdom of God of which St. Paul spoke in the second reading, a wisdom that never ceased to astound him the more he considered the wonders of God's saving Providence:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways!

For, despite the vagaries and duplicities of, the hidden and dark corners to be found in, the human mind and heart, the Gospel shows us a new ingredient, so to speak, which will transform the peg of the Old Testament into the Rock of the New Testament: that is, Jesus’ Personal choice of Peter and promise of the Spirit to His future Church, made in totally loving and obedient response to His Father.

The new, transforming, ingredient is to be found in the fact that Peter was given authority ‘in the name of Jesus’: since Peter -- inspired (in-Spirited) by the Father -- had proclaimed his faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God, Jesus would build His Church on that Rock of His Father’s inspiration of Peter’s faith and confession.    Jesus and the Father are thus to be seen behind Peter and the Spirit with him.

Therefore, People of God, our readings today help us see clearly just who is the supreme head and ultimate leader of the Church: it is the heavenly Jesus.  True, Peter is the head of the Church on earth, he is the visible head called to proclaim Jesus as Son of God and Saviour, and called also to strengthen his fellow apostles in their proclamation of the Gospel, thus making Jesus’ Church truly one on earth; but Peter is only able to be that visible head, because Jesus is the heavenly, ultimate, Head Who prays unceasingly for Peter that he may – despite some bad Middle Ages and Renaissance popes -- continue through time to fulfil the rock-like function of prime proclaimer of Jesus on earth.

As proclaimer of Jesus as Son of God and Saviour the Pope is not called to be a specialist in liturgy, or one given to philosophical considerations concerning the Gospel, he is not necessarily an ethicist responding to mankind’s moral dilemmas and errors as he sees best.  No, although great Popes may and indeed have been thus talented over the centuries, their essential Petrine calling supersedes all such talents.  Our Gospel passage shows with supreme clarity that Peter -- every Pope -- should strive to be, first and foremost, a proclaimer of the Person, the truth and the beauty, the inspirational glory and power, the saving love and compassion, of Jesus.  Any failing in the desired fulfilment of that unique vocation, even when done sincerely for love of another aspect of service in the name of Jesus, can open the way for, even bring, dissension and doubt into the Church.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, dear People of God, let us therefore today whole-heartedly pray for our present Pope Francis that in all his many needs and great trials, but also in his deepest personal aspirations, he may seek and prove to be the man of Jesus’ choice for His Church’s needs today.