WE ARE CHURCH
Today's Gospel
reading, "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church,"
leads us to make an act of faith in Christ Jesus, Who uses human beings, you
and me, to proclaim His wonders!
In
today's Gospel, Jesus establishes His Church founded on Peter, whose name means
"rock." Jesus named Simon, "Peter," because he would become
the rock upon which the Church would be built. Matthew's Gospel tells us that
authority in the Church was entrusted to Peter when Jesus addressed him saying,
"I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed
in heaven" (Mt 16:19).
Now,
I am sure that the Lord could have found many different ways of establishing
His Church. He could have entrusted it to the angels or established a Church
with some sort of direct inspiration, where every move on earth was dictated
from heaven. Instead, the Lord placed the Church in the hands of people of
faith. Good people, like Peter, but still people with all the limitations of
being human.
Just
as it is with all human beings, sometimes the humanity of individuals gets in
the way of their divine charge. Peter tried to keep Jesus from going to
Jerusalem and was thus called "satan," for he was doing the work of
the devil. After boasting that he would never deny Jesus, he did in fact deny
Him three times. Peter was a good man, a man of faith, but sometimes he lost
the vision of who he was and what he was entrusted with. After Pentecost, when
the Church was in its primal stage, Peter realized that Jewish Christians and
Gentile Christians were equal. Yet, at Antioch, he ignored the Gentiles in
favor of the Jews, for which Paul berated him. Peter was a holy man, but still,
a man; as a man he made mistakes.
When
we think of how Peter lived and died for the Lord and how the Church flourished
despite his human failings as well as those of all in Church authority who
would follow him, we have to recognize the hand of the Holy Spirit in the very
life of the Church. Jesus gave His authority to the rock, even though every now
and then those who exercise this authority let their humanity get in the way of
their responsibility. Still, because we do have a concrete authority,
rock-solid, we know who we are when we say we are Catholic. We know the
fundamental beliefs of our Faith and the basic dictates of our morals. We are
firm in our Faith, knowing that even if those in authority should give us a
poor example of living the Faith, we still maintain our Christianity. The
Church still flourishes! Why? Because the Church is much more than mere
individuals, it is the Body of Christ.
When
I think of some of the ways in which I, as an ordained deacon, have let my
humanity get in the way of my responsibility, and yet still witness the
wonderful ways the Lord uses me for others, I have to realize that God's power
is far stronger than my own limitations. When I am clear that a course of
action for our retreat center must be undertaken, even though this may be
unpopular with some, such as structure in management, and when I receive
support for this direction from those in authority over me, I realize that God
is using me as a director and as a deacon.
St.
John Paul II made a trip to Toronto for World Youth Day in 2002. The theme was,
"You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world" (Mt
5:13a, 14a). We are all called to this truth, which brings the Church to a
fullness of life and love with Jesus as the Head. Justine Steckbauer wrote,
"Be light wherever you stand... Be an example of truth, kindness and
justice. Be a reflection of the Savior." Today's Gospel reading, "You
are Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church," leads us to make an
act of faith in Christ Jesus, Who uses human beings, you and me, to proclaim
His wonders!