TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Isaiah
22:19-23; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20)
The gospel
today confronts us with two basic questions: Who is Jesus? And why belong to
the Church? Our answers to these questions should fill us with urgency to live
the faith. If not, we are wasting time
going to mass.
Today
almost the entire world recognizes Jesus precisely as his disciples respond to
his question: "Who do people say is the Son of Man"? Everywhere
people see him as a great prophet. Even Muslims recognize this. The great Hindu
leader, Mahatma Gandhi, wrote that he had had a bad impression of Jesus because
of his bitter experiences with Christians as a young man. He then read the
Sermon on the Mount and recognized the greatness of Jesus. However, if Jesus is
only a prophet, if his achievements are limited to his words alone, he would
not be worth our submission. We could accept his statements that seem on target
and reject those that seem outdated.
However,
the gospel today claims that Jesus is more than a prophet. Inspired by the Holy
Spirit, Simon, son of John, declares, "’You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God'". This means that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who has arrived
to recreate the world in justice. He comes to establish right order among men
and women whose values have been distorted by Satan and his forces of evil. As
the prophet Isaiah says, “'The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord
has anointed me. He sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to sell wounded
hearts, to proclaim liberation to the captives and liberty to the prisoners, to
proclaim a year of favor from the Lord...'"
To such a savior
we owe not only admiration but faithfulness. He enlightens us with his
teachings on how to navigate among the pitfalls of pride and lust. Even more
significant, he strengthens us spiritually so that we may reach our
destination, an intimate relationship with God. Serving this savior is not a
burden but a joy because his orders point out the folly of the world around us.
The gospel
emphasizes Simon, the son of Jonah, as much as Jesus. Because he correctly
answers Jesus' question, he is commissioned as his second. His assignment
signifies the replacement of the Pharisees and scribes as the official
interpreters of God's word. From now on it is the Church and above all the
successors of Simon who will serve as the intermediaries between God and humanity.
With the new position, Simon receives a new name, appropriate to his
office. He is “Peter,” meaning rock, the
foundation stone of the Church.
We wonder
if the authority of the Church continues after so many mistakes made not only
by Church officials but by the very successors of St. Peter. As Simon Peter
will continue to make mistakes as a human person, we cannot expect perfection
from his successors. But in terms of doctrine, the Bishop of Rome has shown
remarkable consistency in upholding the teachings of Jesus for nearly two
thousand years. There have been lapses in the sanctity of the papacies, but it
is also impressive how deviations from the path of goodness have not resulted
in the permanent loss of righteousness.
All of us
know people who have left the Church. They make us wonder what would happen if
we too were to stop going to Mass. We would probably feel loneliness like when
we move to another country. We would be losing the closeness of a sensible and
caring friend. Jesus is found in the gospels that we can read but he comes to
us above all in the sacraments of the Church. There we find him as savior and
sustenance, as unifier and healer. Our lives would be lacking without these
means of encounter.
