I have always said that this gospel today has always been my all-time favorite as it is one scripture passage that we have been hoping many Catholics know by heart, but then it is being ignored by our Christian brethren. It is about the confession of Peter as to who he believes that Jesus is. You can read it in your Bibles in Matt. 16: 13-19 and I certainly hope that our readers would memorize this passage.
“13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” 18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
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Two thousand years ago, early Christian theologians learned that this is the very scripture passage where our Lord Jesus Christ gave authority to Simon, who apparently answered the question that our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to hear from his own disciples. This is why he first asked the question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” After they have given him their answer, he turned towards them as asked them the question, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon apparently gave a reply for all of them… that Jesus Christ their Master was indeed the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
After Simon had given our Lord his reply or confession, our Lord Jesus Christ blessed and addressed Simon and changed his name to Peter, saying that upon this rock, I will build my church. This is the first time in scripture that our Lord Jesus Christ reveals his true mission…to build his church.
Now the changing of names by God can be found in the Old Testament. If you read the Old Testament, when God blessed Abram, he changed his name to Abraham. When the angel wrestled with Jacob, after this was over, Jacob demanded to be blessed by the Lord and the angel blessed Jacob by changing his name to Isra-El, which means, “He who prevails with God.”
Let us re-read again the question that our Lord Jesus Christ posed on his disciples “But who do you say that I am?” If you recall, when Moses met God in the burning bush… and Moses asked the voice in Mt. Sinai, whom he was addressing, God replied, “I am Who I Am. Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.”
So in blessing Simon for saying that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, our Lord blessed him and changed his name to Peter, which signifies that there will be significant changes in his life. And indeed, this lowly fisherman became the first Pope in a long line of Popes unbroken for two thousand years. If you are reading this scripture passage today, be proud of your Catholic history for this are the very words of our Lord Jesus Christ installing Simon Peter as the head of the Catholic Church.
You may ask where did Simon Peter get his authority? Please read on the final passage of today’s scripture. “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
First of all, our Lord gives to Peter the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and with it the authority “To bind and to loose” here on earth and it will also be the same for heaven. Ask yourself… if those non-Catholic heads of their churches were given that same authority by our Lord Jesus Christ as written in Scripture? No one can make such claims…. Yet there are over 33, 000 Christian Churches…but only one Catholic and Apostolic Church.
For those of your friends who say… “I don’t need the Church anymore, nor do we need priests because I can go straight to our Lord Jesus Christ himself. You should answer them with this question, “If we no longer have any need for priests because we can go straight to our Lord Jesus Christ, why then did our Lord Jesus Christ give to Peter and later to his successors the authority to bind or loose on earth, which would also bind and loose in heaven?” If you still don’t get it… let me put it to you simply… that without priests, there can be no Holy Mass and with no Holy Mass…there can be no consecration of the Holy Eucharist. This is our Catholic faith!
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