Based on Matthew 16:13-19 for the Memorial of Saint Sylvester I, 33rd Pope.
The Prophecy of the Rock
To understand the role and importance of St. Peter we must look to Scripture. We must look back through the Old Testament for clues as to what God’s plan was since the beginning of time.
When we read the book of Daniel we find a story where Daniel is brought before King Nebuchadnezzar to interpret the king’s dream. Daniel tells the king about the future destruction of all the great ruling empires. In the dream these kingdoms, symbolized by iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, are destroyed by a rock. Daniel says this to the king, “It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.” (Chap. 2 vs. 44b – 45c)
In the book of Isaiah we read of the steward of the house. “And I will place on his shoulder the keys of the house of David; he shall open and none shall shut; and he shall shut and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house.”
Rocking Scripture
In today’s Gospel Jesus pulls this language from the Old Testament. This was a common Rabbinic teaching method, especially when the audience was knowledgeable in the scriptures. Here He ties Daniel (Rock: 2:34-35) and Isaiah (Keys: 22:21-22) together with a common theme of authority. When Peter answers Jesus’ question of “who do you say that I am?” with “You are the Christ, the son of the living God“, Jesus calls him, Simon, a rock, Peter, and one not carved by human hands, “For flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in Heaven.” It is upon this rock that Jesus determines to build His Church and he places Peter in the role of the steward. He is given the keys and a throne of honor in “his father’s house.”
Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
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.”
It is God’s plan and His design to hew this rock and fix this sure peg of the Pope in a sure place to lead His flock to honor his father’s house.
“At this moment, the Lord repeats His question to each of us: “who do you say that I am?”. A clear and direct question, one which we cannot avoid or remain neutral to, nor can we remand it or delegate the response to someone else. In this question there is nothing inquisitional, but rather, it is full of love! The love of our One Master, who today calls us to renew our faith in Him, recognizing Him as the Son of God and Lord of our life.
Let us allow grace to shape our hearts anew in order to believe, and to open our mouths in order to profess the faith and obtain salvation. Thus, let us make our own the words of Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. May our thought and our gaze be fixed on Jesus Christ, the beginning and the end of all actions of the Church. He is the foundation and no one may lay a different one. He is the foundation upon which the “rock” is placed. He is the cornerstone in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Eph 2:21-22)“St Augustine recalls this with expressive words, when he writes that even if shaken and upset over historical events, the Church ‘will not fall, because she is founded on the rock, from which Peter’s name derives. It is not the rock that draws its name from Peter, but Peter who draws it from the rock; just as it is not the name Christ which derives from Christian, but the name Christian which derives from Christ…. The rock is Christ, upon which foundation Peter too was edified.’” – Pope Francis
Like St. Peter, no Pope is perfect. No Pope is without sin. Rather, he is chosen by God to lead Christ’s flock through time towards eternity and His Father’s House.
James M. Hahn, Author 