First Reading Commentary
This Reading prefigures this weekend’s Gospel
and the authority from on High that is given to the Chief Shepherd of the
Church, the pope. The key is the symbol
of the office. The peg is most likely in
a literal sense the peg of a tent. The
peg keeps the tent in place and thus symbolizes the stability of the office. To make a long story short, Shebna connived
his way into some high office in the palace and made decisions that benefited him.
In the early stages of the Benedict XVI papacy,
the new household term which he had spoken out against was “moral relativism”. In a nutshell, moral relativism means that
each person is his own god or his own pope.
In other words, moral principles have no objective standards. While most would verbally reject moral relativism,
the influences of our culture have caused many to fall into it. Like Shebna, relativism focuses far too much
on the trinity of me, myself and I. Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI has defined it as a major evil facing the Church.
Second Reading Commentary
The opening verse is a reassurance that God has
everything under control no matter how often one may ask, “Why would God allow
this to happen?” Well, we don’t know why
but Saint Paul tells us to stop trying to figure it out because our Lord’s ways
are unsearchable. All that is known
about God is only that which He has chosen to reveal. One would have to think, though, that we’ve
barely scratched the surface.
Many of the evils of this world are the result
of humanity’s free will and surely at times that is coupled with the influence
of the tempter. But what we know about
God is that He is Love and Infinitely Good.
Therefore, being perpetually awestruck is the result of a strong faith
present in a child of God because all the evil that is understood and not
understood by us will eventually have the ultimate confrontation with Him Who
is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good.
And guess Who wins?
Gospel Commentary
“The region of Caesarea Philippi” is named such
because it was built by Philip the tetrarch in honor of Caesar Augustus.
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” In the court of Herod in Galilee there were
floating around superstitious rumors that John the Baptist had been resurrected
from the dead which prompts the first answer to our Lord’s question.
Because of Christ’s Ministry the territory had a
Messianic atmosphere which led many to believe that Jesus was Elijah who was
prophesied to be the precursor: “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5).
Jeremiah’s name comes up because of a vision
found in the Second Book of Maccabees (cf.
15:13-16). Other prophets are also
associated with Messianic prophecy. But
next follows a very direct question from Jesus: “But who do you say that I am?” It is Simon Peter who reveals the Divinity of
Jesus Christ.
“Simon, son of Jonah,” as it reads in our
liturgical text, is a translation of the Greek text which in this case does not
abandon the spoken languages of Jesus and Peter: “Simon Bar Jona,” – “Bar”
is the Aramaic word for “Son” and “Jona” is
a Hebrew word meaning “Dove”. Jesus
informs Peter that His heavenly Father revealed this to him. From this it can be said that it was God the
Father Who chose Peter to be the Chief Shepherd of the Church of God the
Son. Jesus says that not flesh and
blood, meaning not any prophecy that Peter may be aware of, nor any miracle witnessed
through the Hands of Christ by Peter is the reason for his proclamation. It was the Father alone Who revealed this to
Simon Peter. This proclamation speaks to
all of us and says that faith in the Divinity of Jesus Christ is a prerequisite
for the family of the Son of Man.
“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build
My Church.” In Saint John’s Gospel Jesus
identifies Simon as Peter: “You shall be called Cephas, which is interpreted,
Peter” (John 1:42). The name in Aramaic is “Kepha” which means “Rock” or “Stone”. In Christ’s native language there is no
distinction of grammatical gender unlike Latin.
In the Aramaic it is, “You are Kepha
and on this kepha I will build My
Church.” In Latin there is “Petrus” (Peter) and “petra” (rock). The Greek is “Petros” (Peter) and “petra”
(rock). No doubt Christ Himself is the
Chief Stone as Saint Paul has pointed out (cf.
Ephesians 2:20). But equally true,
the apostles are also foundation stones as told in the Book of Revelation (cf. 21:14). Therefore we have to conclude that Peter is
the first and chief foundation stone among the apostles. And on Peter, the rock, Christ promised to
build His Church. And by building His
Church upon rock like the wise builder (cf.
Matthew 7:24-25), Jesus has secured His Church from the onslaught of storms
that will surely come. And we all know
they have come! Jesus promised that the
netherworld, or as the Latin translates, the gates of hell, shall not prevail
against the Church. The Greek text translates the “gates of hell” as the “gates
of the unseen”. Jesus never promised,
however, that the gates of hell would not come knocking at the door.
The keys, as in the First Reading, are a symbol
of the office.
“Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” These words are not an invitation for Peter
to indulge himself, but instead a promise that the office will be guided by the
Holy Spirit.
