When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Have you ever wondered why the Lord chose Peter to be the rock of the Church?
Why not John, the Beloved Disciple?
John stood faithfully at the Cross while Peter was somewhere else cowering in fear.
Why not Mary Magdalene, whose devotion to Jesus was undeniable?
She was the first person to approach the empty tomb on Easter Sunday, and the first to see the Risen Lord.
Why not John or Mary? Why Peter?
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Peter was embarrassingly human – a man filled with courage, and at times, cowardice.
He was the first disciple to profess his faith in Jesus, saying rightly, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
Then three times he denied ever knowing him.
Peter walked trustingly towards Jesus on the stormy Sea of Galilee – but quickly sank in fear.
Jesus names him the “rock” in today’s Gospel, but later rebukes him, calling him “Satan.”
More than any other disciple, Peter experienced both success and failure.
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Maybe that’s why he was chosen.
Peter could be any one of us. He wasn’t perfect, but he loved the Lord and knew he was saved.
He reminds us that some days we succeed, and other days we fail. But God’s love and plans for us never change.
The invitation is always there: “Come, follow me.”
Saint Peter, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Saint Peter, Peter Paul Rubens (2) The Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter, Perugino (3) Zion Lutheran Church
As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John and approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to him and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.” He said to them in reply, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.” They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions. As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. Then he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “Since childhood. It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, “Why could we not drive the spirit out?” He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s a saying among priests, “You either say the Mass… or pray the Mass.”
I’m sure all of you have seen the difference. Sometimes Catholics leave church feeling exhausted. Maybe the sermon was out of touch, accusatory, or flat. Maybe the priest rushed through the prayers.
Other times, we leave feeling inspired or comforted.
At least part of the difference lies in that distinction – whether we “say” the Mass or “pray” the Mass.
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At the moment of ordination, every priest is given the same unique, divine gift: the opportunity to act in the name of Christ – to forgive sins, to celebrate Eucharist, to baptize, bless, and bury.
But these gifts only remain attractive, and in a human sense, “effective,” when the priest stays close to the source of his ministry: Jesus Christ.
In other words, he must pray.
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We see the difference this makes in today’s Gospel.
The disciples have just returned from healing the sick and casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Yet now they’re confronted with a boy who suffers from an unclean spirit and they cannot cast it out.
“Why?” they ask Jesus.
“This kind can only come out through prayer.”
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Herein lies a lesson for all of us: God has given each of us unique gifts and talents.
While they may be exercised to some degree of success on our own, they are set on fire – in a holy sense – when we give them back to God.
Spend a moment in prayer today. Allow the Spirit to ignite all that is good in you. Just like “saying” the Mass versus “praying” the Mass, you will notice the difference.
Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I read a story this week about a 70-year-old woman from northern Italy whose name was Marinella Beretta. Police found her sitting at her kitchen table … more than two years after she died.
They entered her home after neighbors called them, complaining about trees leaning over in her unkept garden. No one had seen Marinella since the beginning of the pandemic.
Nor did anyone try to visit. Neighbors say they just thought she moved.
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“What happened to Marinella Beretta in Como,” the Italian Minister of Families later wrote on Facebook, “the forgotten loneliness, hurts our consciences.”
It was tragic that she died alone.
But worse, she lived … alone.
Nobody bothered to knock on the closed gate of her tiny cottage in nearly 1,000 days.
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If only Marinella’s story was uncommon.
Would you believe that nearly 40 percent of Italians over the age of 75 live alone? Almost the same number say they have no relatives or friends to call upon.
This is particularly striking to me, since Italians are traditionally known to be very family centered.
Such a startling truth begs the question, “What do we owe one another?” Or, “how much effort should we put into building a community for all generations to journey together?”
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Loneliness is not something that only affects seniors. It seeps into the heart of every human being at some point in time.
I’m thinking, in particular, about our young people, many of whom have struggled terribly during this pandemic.
So, again, “What do we owe one another?” Are we our brother’s keeper?
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us how to relate to one another.
He tells us to do four things, in particular: “to love, do good, bless, and pray,” for our neighbors, regardless of whether we consider them a “friend” or an “enemy.”
He also tells us not to do two other things: do not judge and do not condemn.
“For the measure with which you measure,” he says, “will be measured out to you.” Meaning, we should treat other people the way that we want God to treat us.
We want God to be kind to us, so we should be kind to others. We want God to visit us, to speak to us, to listen to us. We should do the same to others. We want God to forgive us when we make mistakes. We should have the same attitude towards all.
As Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us, “It is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
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Our parish vision statement begins with the words, “ALL generations,” meaning we challenge ourselves to become a community that is concerned about the needs and desires of everyone – “all generations.”
One desire in every human heart is the desire to belong, something, it seems, that went unsatisfied in Marinella.
For this very reason, we’ve offered events like High Tea at High Noon for seniors, the Color Run for our youth, a Mass of Remembrance for those who mourn, and the gala last Thursday for us to celebrate our future together.
Our pastoral council is also planning other events in the coming months. I’m excited, in particular, about a series of events we’re planning on mental health, which may develop into a broader mental health ministry.
We hope to offer a retreat for “all generations,” focusing on ways to deal with stress, loneliness, and anxiety, as well as a speaker series to dive deeper into this reality.
“Blessed are you,” Jesus says, when we do these things. Blessed are we when we come together as a community, when we volunteer our time, when we welcome and pray for one another, when we care about the health of our neighbor.
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So, who is the “Marinella” in my life? Who is one person whom I can visit, pray for, or listen to? Who can I invite to join our community of “all generations journeying together”?
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“Whatever you do to these, the least of my brothers and sisters,” Jesus says, “you do to me.”
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Image credits: (1) Desert Southwest Conference (2) OI Canadian (3) stevewilmotauthor.com
