21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

On this 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A), we have two Scripture readings that offer some of the historical roots of a wise gift Christ gave to the Church: the Papacy.  Critics are quick to point to the abuses and sinful lives of popes from past centuries, at the very mention of the papacy.  But we have been blessed to have had holy men in the Chair of Peter for decades now.  And some today are concerned about Pope Francis’ different way of speaking and proceeding as compared to his predecessors.  But Jesus promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church, so there is no cause for alarm.  In many ways, these indeed are difficult days in the world and the Church, but God is in control and will have the final word.

Today’s gospel reading recounts the moment when Simon Peter tells Jesus that He is the Anointed One, the Christ, and the Son of God.  In turn, Jesus gives Simon a new name and with it a new mission and position.  Jesus gives Peter the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and the ability to loose things on earth that will then be loosed in heaven and to bind things of earth that will be bound then in heaven.  We can read of Peter’s action as the first among the apostles in the Acts of the Apostles.  No one, other than Jesus, is quoted in the New Testament as often as Peter is.  He clearly was the leader of the first believers.

Church history tells us that Peter’s successor as bishop of Rome was Linus, and then Cletus, Clement, Evaristus, Alexander, Sixtus, etc.  As bishop of Rome, each was honored among their fellow bishops as the first among equals.  And that has continued for centuries right up until the present with Francis as the the 266th Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father, the Papa, the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. 

The first reading today from Isaiah, 800 years before the time of Jesus, explains that Shebna, the master of the palace of the Davidic King, is about to be replaced.  It was a powerful position and now the sign of authority, the key, will be placed on Eliakim’s shoulder.  He, not Shebna, now will have the authority to open and shut and will be in a place of honor. 

The first Jewish Christians knew this Scripture, so they understood what it meant when Jesus used the same imagery and similar words about Peter.  It is Peter who would be the one to care for all those in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in place of the King, who, of course, is Jesus the Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father. 

Peter had the respect and love of all those in the Christian community.  May we too always respect and love our Pope, trusting that the Holy Spirit was at work when he was elected and will continue to lead and guide him as he serves in the position first held by Peter.