From The Pastor:
From the Gospel of Matthew, we receive an essential reading on the Papacy. Jesus says to Peter, “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.
Peter comes from the word Petra which in Greek means rock. Jesus wants to establish the order of the Church. He places Peter with all this weaknesses and sin in the position to be the first Pope. Peter immediately took his position seriously receiving the grace to fulfill his duties. He lead Christ’s church even shedding his own blood out of love for Him.
Today in our times, we have seen a misunderstanding of the importance of our Pope. Some people believe he is just a figure-head. Some people think he shouldn’t speak to us about morals, let us do our own thing. Others rarely hear of his words or read his writings—-he is in Rome and we are far removed. Still others think he is infallible in all things.
The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful (CCC882). The college of Bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff. If we are to live of this truth we must recognize the authority of the Pope. We must see him as our Supreme spiritual father, the one who will lead us through these times. The one who has a pulse on the world and can help us to see the various obstacles that trip us up in our world today. It demands that we be obedient.
Christ said to Peter, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” In this scripture passage we see the authority given to the Church. And from the catechism it becomes clearer: “The words bind and loose mean: whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from the communion with God; whomever you receive anew into communion, God will welcome back into His. Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God”(CCC1445).
We must pray to understand more deeply the connection between Christ and his Church. If we listen to the Holy Father we receive deeper insights about Christ and his Church. The two cannot be separated. Even though the devil would love to divide, in faith we know that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against the Church. Therefore, although it may appear evil is winning, Christ’s power continues to be manifest through His Pope and His Church. That in itself should give us a hope that the Church will be there until the end!
