THE ROCK OF FAITH AND THE KEYS OF AUTHORITY AND SALVATION.
August 27, 2023.
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time – A.
“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven…” Mt
16:19
A British proverb says: “The key to all action lies in
belief.” And a Romanian proverb adds: “He that will enter into paradise must
have a good key.”
Keys are something more than symbolic. They are needed and
at times, vital. All of us have keys in our houses. And sometimes, we search
even for the highest quality and branded keys for more security. No one gets
out of his house without safely locking the doors, and no one gets in a locked
house without the keys. Keys are useful to lock and open. And he who holds the
keys of a house is entrusted with great responsibilities accompanied by
authority.
In the tradition and rites of the Church, when a priest is
appointed Parish Priest, during the rite of installation, the bishop entrusts
him the keys, more particularly, the key of the Tabernacle, the central mystery
of the Church and faith.
In the Holy Scriptures, "Jesus entrusted a specific
authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The "power of the keys"
designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus,
the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my
sheep." The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to
absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary
decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through
the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter,
the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom."
CCC 553
As we can read in the first reading and the Gospel, keys are
the central word and they refer to authority, responsibility, and faith. Saying
so, these three main symbolisms in today's readings, mostly in the Gospel,
which find their similarity in the first reading, will animate our meditation:
ROCK, KEYS, and AUTHORITY (to bind or loose).
In the Gospel, all happens after the solemn revelation or
confession of Peter about Jesus. The Lord questioned the disciples on the
opinions of people about him: "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
Then he turned the question into something more personal, addressed to his
disciples: "Who do you say I am?"
The context is the most important. The disciples are still
pilgrims in faith. The Lord accused their lack of faith last Sunday. Has it
changed? Here, the answer of Peter will tell us more. "You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God." The journey is still going on, and the Holy
Spirit is at work in them. And Peter is the proof of that work of the Spirit:
"Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and
blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven." This comforts
the Lord to know that Peter who was lacking faith, is now enlightened by the
Spirit, and so come our three symbolisms with their meanings.
The Rock, the Keys, and the Authority. A special emphasis
will be put on the primacy of the Petrine authority in the Church: Peter is
presented as the foundation of faith. He is the one who opens the gates of
faith and mercy, and he stands as the authoritative guardian of the gates of
salvation.
The Rock, Kephas. Kephas is a Greek transliteration of the
Aramaic name כאפא (Kepha, pronounced kee-ephah), meaning "stone." It
is the name the Lord gave Simon upon calling him, and he, later on, accompanied
it with a mission. "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I
will build my church..." Mt 16:18 Peter stands as the stronghold of faith,
a faith that is expressed with boldness and zeal. We can see in the Gospel how
often Simon, son of Jonas, took the initiative to speak on behalf of the community
of the Twelve, how he was impetuous, and filled with goodwill. But at the same
time, he was limited by human weakness. With such a foundation of faith, we
learn that true faith is a continued journey. The implication is that we are
not Christians one's for all. The Christian life is a journey. It is not enough
to be a good churchgoer. We must keep our heads up. Even Peter, after
confessing his faith, will not accept some elements of Jesus' Messianic mission
such as his passion and death. And Jesus would admonish him: “Get behind me,
Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as
human beings do.” Mt 16:23 No one has a faith that is without impediment.
Secondly, the Keys. It goes together with the Authority.
Because of his faith, Simon Peter was given the keys to open others to faith in
the Messiah. The keys confer an extraordinary degree of authority. In the
Gospel passage of today, we read about Peter's authority to govern the Church
and his authority to forgive, expressed in the Lord's words, bind and unbind.
With this, comes the traditional belief that Peter stands guard at the entrance
to heaven. The keys to the kingdom of heaven, which Jesus talks about in verse
19, represent knowledge, faith, and the means to help others find salvation,
and Peter stands guardian of our salvation with the power to forgive and give.
This Petrine authority befalls the Pope. He is the first successor of the
Apostles in terms of authority in the Church. He is the guardian of the faith.
On him, and after Peter, is placed the keys of God's House and the care of his
people.
In that sense, the Catechism states: "The Lord made
Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave
him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock.
"The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also
assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." This pastoral
office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation
and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope." CCC 881
For us, Catholics, the Pope is not just a Bishop among
thousands. His position is not something just honorific, as we could say of the
King of the UK or the President of Italy. The Holy Father has authority over
the universal Church. He is the guardian and the guarantor of the Catholicity
and orthodoxy of faith. As says the Saints, he is the Vicar of Christ, the
sweet Christ on earth. Through the Pope, we get to understand, as St. Paul
could ask, "How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge."
Because he chooses a man to be the keeper of the keys of his kingdom and the
protagonist of faith in him.
Let's pray especially in this Holy Eucharist for Pope Francis, and for all the bishops who are invested with apostolic mission, that God leads them with his Spirit of wisdom. May we all vow to them fidelity, obedience, and submission.
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