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For hundreds of years¾and
especially since the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century and
Counter-Reformation of the 17th century¾Roman
Catholics have used the scene described in today’s gospel reading as a
biblical basis for asserting the primacy of Peter and his successors.
For many, if not most Roman Catholics, the concept that Peter is the
“Rock” upon which Christ built his church has focused primary attention
upon Peter’s role as the “first Pope” as well as the unbroken chain of
apostolic succession through two millennia. In that role, Roman
Catholics expect Peter’s successor¾like
Pope John Paul II in our own generation¾to
uphold what scripture teaches and to proclaim the tradition of our
faith, whether that message is “in season” or “out of season.”
I leave it to the
theologians to sort out the historical significance of this scene and
what it means for church leadership. What I do want to suggest,
however, is that Roman Catholics need to expand their horizons a bit to
be able to contemplate some other significant dimensions of this scene
that have direct application to their lives as disciples. The
conceptual blinders that narrow the focus of many Roman Catholics upon
the role of Peter and his successors¾as
important and perhaps necessary as that role is¾keeps
Roman Catholics from appreciating not only what Jesus asks of his
disciples in any generation but also what follows after an individual
responds to the all-important question Jesus posed to his disciples in
this scene: “And who do you say that I am?” One’s response to
that question has very important implications for discipleship.
One dimension of this
scene that Roman Catholics oftentimes do not consider is that this scene
takes place after Jesus has spent much time teaching his disciples about
God’s kingdom and prior to Jesus making his way to Jerusalem. For the
past several weeks, the gospels have depicted Jesus teaching parables
that describe what God’s kingdom is like. But, interestingly, no one¾especially
his disciples¾seem
to understand Jesus is teaching. And so, for several weeks now, we’ve
heard how Jesus would take his disciples aside and explain to them the
meaning of the parables. Then, after this additional instruction, Jesus
would pose the following question to his disciples: “Do you understand?”
That dimension of this
scene is important because it challenges us ask that question of
ourselves. “Do you understand?” not only inquires into whether we
understand intellectually what Jesus teaches about his mission as savior
and redeemer. The question also inquires into whether we understand
what all of this means in terms of living out what we understand.
It really is very
easy, isn’t it, to respond “Yes” to Jesus’ question in a glib sort of
way because we may believe that the type of understanding Jesus is
inquiring about is simply an “exercise of the mind” best
stimulated by reading and meditating upon scripture, memorizing a
catechism, or fulfilling what we understand our religious obligations to
be. While each of these are important and not to be underestimated, the
type of understanding that Jesus is asking his disciples about involves
something much more deeply personal and intimate. It might be called an
“exercise of the heart” because, unless our understanding of what Jesus
is teaching about the Kingdom of God transcends our minds, enters into
our hearts, and causes us to reform our lives, we really haven’t
understood what Jesus is teaching.
To respond “Yes” to
Jesus’ question, then, requires understanding not only what he has
taught on an intellectual level¾the
level of our thoughts¾but
also, and more importantly, at a moral level¾the
level of our words and actions. Discipleship, then, requires that our
thoughts, words, and actions emerge from a pure mind and a pure heart
motivated solely by love of God and neighbor.
Today’s gospel
introduces another dimension to Jesus’ teaching, this dimension
providing indications about what being a disciple requires beyond
understanding. Jesus highlights this dimension once again by asking his
disciples a question. Evidently, it is not enough for Jesus’
disciples to understand what he is teaching about God’s kingdom. No, by
asking the question “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus is
suggesting that each and every disciple¾that’s
you and me¾must
testify to who it is or what it is we believe to constitute salvation.
Interestingly, Jesus first asks his disciples the question, “Who do
others say that I am?” Then, he puts it right to each of them by
asking the more probing question, “Who do you say that I am?”
Though perhaps
overlooked by many Roman Catholics, this is a very important, if not
crucial aspect of this gospel story because it is Peter who first blurts
out “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” Because Peter
testifies that salvation is found in Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the
living God, Jesus announces: “You are ‘Rock’ and on this rock I will
build my church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it.”
Like Peter, when Jesus’ disciples in any generation testify that
salvation is found in Jesus, the Messiah who is the Son of the living
God, they too are the “Rock” upon which Jesus builds his church and
against whom the jaws of death will not prevail.
It is much easier, is
it not, to recede into the background when religious, moral, or ethical
issues¾important
matters having to do with salvation and redemption¾come
to the fore? It is much easier, is it not, to wet our finger and stick
it up in the air to test where the tide of public opinion is trending
rather than to testify where salvation and redemption are to be found?
It is much easier, is it not, to relativize truth as if it is mere
“opinion” so that we don’t have to stand up for what we believe?
Only those disciples
who understand in their minds and in their hearts that
Jesus is the Messiah, the only Son of the living God can testify that salvation is found only in Jesus who are the “Rock.” These
are the women and men upon whom Jesus builds his church and against whom
the jaws of death will not prevail. And, like Jesus, these disciples
hold fast to their faith, despite persecution, ridicule, or even death.
There are so many ways
Jesus’ disciples in this generation are tested and we can see whether
they are truly the “Rock” upon whom Jesus builds his church and against
whom the jaws of death will not prevail.
At
the reception which followed a wedding I performed last weekend, the
24-year-old sister of the groom (who I’ve known since she was four years
old) and I were chatting about her work as a nurse in the ob-gyn ward of
a large Chicago hospital. As a committed Catholic, she has steadfastly
refused to participate in any abortion procedure as her way of
testifying that salvation and redemption are found in Jesus and not in
the evil of the sin of abortion. Over the past two years, several of
her fellow nurses have also joined in her protest, many of whom were
shocked to discover that most abortions have to do with convenience and
not with medical necessity as many assert. Members of the hospital’s
administration have issued veiled threats, some of their peers have
ridiculed them both in public and in private, and some ob-gyns have
refused to work with these nurses or allow them into their operating
rooms.
As disciples, these
women understand what discipleship requires and are steadfast in their
faith. They are the Rock upon whom Christ is building his church in
this generation, a church that affirms the culture of life and which
refuses to be ensnared by the seductive charms of the culture of death
no matter what the personal or professional price may be.
I recall a
conversation I had a while back with a Catholic couple who have
practiced natural family planning since they were married several
decades ago. For taking to heart the Church’s teaching about human
life, the more polite members of their families as well as some friends
and neighbors have looked upon these two disciples not only with shock
and disbelief but have also expressed some hostility and anger. Many
believe that this man and woman are oddities in a world where “sex on
demand” is believed to be the infallible road to sexual equality and
marital bliss. Believe it or not, the woman’s gynecologist¾a
practicing Catholic¾has
tried over the years to convince her to use artificial birth control and
has even prescribed birth control pills for this woman, despite her
protestations to the contrary.
By the standards which
the people of this world use to make judgments, something is very wrong
with this couple as are all people who understand and testify to the
Church’s teaching about human life. But, as disciples, this wife and
her husband are the Rock upon whom Christ is building his church, one
which has provided the couple and their children the foretaste and the
promise of the Kingdom of God.
I recall another
Catholic couple who several years back were having some real problems
with their teenage son. Just prior to the time I came for a visit, he
evidently had done something pretty bad. At any rate, shortly after I
arrived, his mother said to me, “We’re going to Church.” Clueless as to
what was going on, we piled into the car and within a very short time I
found myself kneeling in a back pew of the church. A priest was hearing
confessions and I asked the kid’s mother what was going on. She told me
that her son had done something bad and both she and her husband had
decided that they would only welcome the son back into the family after
he went to confession. But, to model why they were doing this, they
decided that they’d go to confession first, followed by their other two
children, and finally, the son who had committed the dastardly act.
And, while he was going to confession, the couple had told their son,
they would pray for him.
I can’t tell you the
number of people who have responded to this story by calling the wife
and husband “nuts,” “crazy,” or worse yet, “out of touch with their
son’s needs.” One person told me that the couple needs some “heavy-duty
psychotherapy” because they are ruining their son’s self-esteem. But,
as disciples, this couple is the Rock upon whom Christ is building his
church. This is the church where parents teach their children that
the miracle of forgiveness is not something simply human but also
divine.
Thinking about those
nurses who refuse to waver on their commitment to life, the couple that
practices natural family planning, and the couple that has struggled to
teach their son what forgiveness and reconciliation require, it is so
much easier (and convenient, I might add) for Roman Catholics to hear
today’s gospel relating Peter’s commission as the “Rock” and to think of
Peter’s role as the “first Pope” and his successors through the
centuries. But, in doing so, this rather narrow reading of this passage
from scripture provides a convenient for Roman Catholics to escape from
considering their role as Jesus’ disciples and how he asks each and
every Roman Catholic, “Who do you say that I am?”
Jesus asked this
question of his disciples before he entered Jerusalem, where he would
suffer persecution, ridicule, and pay the ultimate price, death.
Jerusalem is also the city where Peter, the “Rock”¾the
one who possessed the deepest understanding of all the disciples into
Jesus’ true nature¾would
publicly deny Jesus not one but three times. In this generation, Jesus’
disciples live in a world ripe with secularism and materialism that
offer a false promise of happiness that is at odds with Jesus’ mission
as savior and redeemer. “Do you understand?”¾with
your minds and in your hearts¾Jesus
asked his disciples. And, then, he followed-up with a second question,
asking them: “And who do you say that I am?”
Like Peter, we too may
falter in Jerusalem, but we should never forget that Jesus identified
this person¾Peter
(and you and me, too)¾whose
weakness made him
(and whose
weakness makes us, too)
the perfect
candidate, the kind of real human being, to be the rock upon whom Jesus
will build his church in this generation and against whom the jaws of
death will not prevail. Salvation and redemption come by
understanding and testifying to this truth. |
HOMILY
