May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
It all began with an invitation from the Lord Jesus. Walking by the Sea, the master called two
sets of brothers. It all began with the
words, “Come, follow me.” In our reading
from the Gospel today, it all begins with a question: “Who do people say that
the Son of Man is?” The Lord Jesus then
asks a more direct question, “But who do you say that I am?” By a special revelation from the Father,
Simon professes, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” From the mouth of Simon the Fisherman come
the words of Peter the Shepherd. On him
and on his profession of faith Christ our Lord has promised to build his Church
and the gates of the netherworld shall not overcome it. Death will not conquer the Church. Death will not bring an end to the mission of
Peter. In every age, and from generation
to generation, the office of the Apostle Peter continues in the Church. The office of the Apostle Peter continues in
Our Holy Father, the Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome.
It is the task of our Holy Father, the Pope, to confess the
faith of the Church. It is the task of
our Holy Father to confirm the brethren as the head of the college of Bishops,
and it is his task to bind and to loose with the authority of Jesus
Christ. It is his responsibility as the
Successor of St. Peter to declare that which is in conformity with our
profession of faith and that which is not in conformity with the faith of the
Church.
But chiefly, dear brothers and sisters, the Holy Father
exercises the office of unity. The Holy
Father keeps us united to the Apostles, to the Fathers and Doctors of the
Church, to the saints of ages long passed and the saints whose voices we heard
with our own ears. The Holy Father keeps
us united to our past. Like a good
shepherd, the Holy Father leads the flock into the green pastures ahead of
us. For the whole Church he guards her
faith from error so that the gift that we have received from the Lord through
the Apostles might be faithfully handed on to the next generation. Saint Peter, now through Pope Francis,
continues to profess the faith, to shepherd the flock and to proclaim the
message of salvation.
And yet, dear brothers and sisters, what Christ the Lord has
given to Peter in a very particular way, Christ has also shared with each of
us. We are here today because we have
made our own the confession of faith made by the Apostle Peter. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. We make that
profession of faith our own each time we say “Amen.” We make that profession of faith our own in a
very profound way when we pronounce our “Amen” at Holy Communion. For Simon, the Fisherman of Galilee, this
profession of faith took him from his homeland and from his culture and from
his daily work. This profession of faith
took him to prison, to persecution, to crucifixion in the circus of Nero, and
to burial on a hillside where his bones still rest. Our journey will likely be different, but the
one who calls us, the one in whom we place our faith, and the one who’s Gospel
we live and proclaim is the same. It is
Christ the Lord who invites us.
As we celebrate this Eucharist today, let us pray for our
Holy Father Francis as he professes the faith and shepherds the flock. Let us commit ourselves to faithfully handing
on the gift of faith that we have received.
And let us renew our own profession of faith and in the silence of our
hearts profess to the Lord Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living
God.” Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
