Monday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Readings of the day: Acts 12:1-11; Psalm 24:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16:13-18
Readings of the day: Acts 12:1-11; Psalm 24:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16:13-18
“Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” What do these words, first spoken by Jesus to St. Peter, mean for us today?
We live in a world of many crises, far from and near to us. Within the past week terrorist attacks have taken place in Kuwait, in Tunisia, and in France. Racism still rears its head in these United States. It has been exposed by the killing of nine people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and the role the Confederate flag may have as a symbol of racial hatred. We have heard this past weekend of the killing of one escaped convict and the capture of another here in New York State after a long manhunt. And with the recent Supreme Court ruling our country is once again deeply polarized over the meaning of marriage. Many, particularly some in leadership positions in the Church, have offered reasoned and nuanced reflection on this issue. I find this encouraging. But still many have forgotten due charity toward one another, especially those with whom we disagree. Many have forgotten the primacy of human dignity and Jesus’ teachings on love of God and neighbor; are in danger of forgetting Jesus’ words to Peter: “The gates of the netherworld” will not prevail against this community of faith, the Church, that Christ has instituted and safeguarded with its teaching tradition handed on from the Apostles.
“Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” Jesus first spoke these words to Peter in a time of crisis. Jesus went with his disciples “into the region of Caesarea Philippi.” Caesarea Philippi was built as a monument to Caesar and his puppet ruler in Israel at the time, Philip the Tetrarch, descendant of Herod. A cave outside of Caesarea Philippi is known as “the gates of the netherworld.” Animals would be thrown into this cave (a kind of magic ritual) by pagan believers to make peace with their gods. If the animal did not emerge from the other end of the cave, it meant the pagan gods were satisfied; Hades was kept at bay.
Jesus says here that these pagan rituals were useless; that our God is not an angry God placated by sacrifice but a God of mercy who sacrifices his Son out of love for us. And we as Church can have confidence in our God of love and the Church Christ has founded.
All the crises of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s time, even death for their faith; our faith did “not prevail” against this Church. All the crises present and future will “not prevail” against us, either. How deep is our confidence; our trust in these words of Jesus? Jesus invites us to trust; to hold fast to truths handed on from the Apostles; to “run the race” and keep “the faith” as St. Paul did; to confess and live as St. Peter did that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus invites us to go out into our world with confidence: “Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
We live in a world of many crises, far from and near to us. Within the past week terrorist attacks have taken place in Kuwait, in Tunisia, and in France. Racism still rears its head in these United States. It has been exposed by the killing of nine people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and the role the Confederate flag may have as a symbol of racial hatred. We have heard this past weekend of the killing of one escaped convict and the capture of another here in New York State after a long manhunt. And with the recent Supreme Court ruling our country is once again deeply polarized over the meaning of marriage. Many, particularly some in leadership positions in the Church, have offered reasoned and nuanced reflection on this issue. I find this encouraging. But still many have forgotten due charity toward one another, especially those with whom we disagree. Many have forgotten the primacy of human dignity and Jesus’ teachings on love of God and neighbor; are in danger of forgetting Jesus’ words to Peter: “The gates of the netherworld” will not prevail against this community of faith, the Church, that Christ has instituted and safeguarded with its teaching tradition handed on from the Apostles.
“Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” Jesus first spoke these words to Peter in a time of crisis. Jesus went with his disciples “into the region of Caesarea Philippi.” Caesarea Philippi was built as a monument to Caesar and his puppet ruler in Israel at the time, Philip the Tetrarch, descendant of Herod. A cave outside of Caesarea Philippi is known as “the gates of the netherworld.” Animals would be thrown into this cave (a kind of magic ritual) by pagan believers to make peace with their gods. If the animal did not emerge from the other end of the cave, it meant the pagan gods were satisfied; Hades was kept at bay.
Jesus says here that these pagan rituals were useless; that our God is not an angry God placated by sacrifice but a God of mercy who sacrifices his Son out of love for us. And we as Church can have confidence in our God of love and the Church Christ has founded.
All the crises of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s time, even death for their faith; our faith did “not prevail” against this Church. All the crises present and future will “not prevail” against us, either. How deep is our confidence; our trust in these words of Jesus? Jesus invites us to trust; to hold fast to truths handed on from the Apostles; to “run the race” and keep “the faith” as St. Paul did; to confess and live as St. Peter did that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus invites us to go out into our world with confidence: “Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
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