Keys in Your Pocket, Keys to Your Heart

These are not the keys to the kingdom of heaven!
However, they are the keys to my little corner
of the kingdom on earth.

Keys are important, these keys are important to me: they open – and they keep shut. Keys let some folks in and keys keep some folks out. Keys are signs of trust and authority and responsibility. We don’t freely give out the keys to our homes or cars – let alone our safety deposit boxes!

After Mass today, the key to the tabernacle  where we reserve the Eucharist,
that key will be placed in a safe and the safe locked.

Keys keep important things secure – like the keys to our hearts… Sometimes we’re slow to give away the key to our hearts because in the past we shared that key too freely and others took advantage of the access we gave them.

The Power to Touch the Moon

There’s a story that is popular in the Dominican Republic about a king who wanted to touch the moon. Now, the story never tells us why he wanted to touch the moon, it simply has the king state, “I want to touch the moon. I am the king and I get what I want.” So the king called the royal carpenter and said, “Build me a tower that is high enough to touch the moon.” The carpenter said, “Your majesty, this can’t be done.” “It will be done,” said the king, “or I’ll find myself another royal carpenter.” So, the carpenter came up with an idea, “If we could collect enough wooden boxes, they could be stacked on top of one another and perhaps make a tower that was high enough to touch the moon.” “Let it be done,” said the king, and he sent out his soldiers to collect all the wooden boxes in the kingdom—boxes that were used to store books, boxes which were used for food or clothing, even boxes in which people had been buried. All were collected and built into a high tower. It was high indeed. But of course, it was not high enough to touch the moon.

The One Who Holds the Keys

This Sunday we are presented with two figures who are given keys. The first is Eliakim. Eliakim was the secretary to Shebna the Master of King Hezekiah’s palace back in the 8th century before Christ. According the first reading from Isaiah, Shebna lost favor with the Lord and was replaced by Eliakim. Isaiah goes on to say that God placed the keys of the Kingdom on Eliakim’s shoulder. He would be Master of the Palace and the one through whom others would have to go to get access to the King.

The Gospel reading presents Peter as receiving the keys of the Kingdom of God. Like Eliakim, he would determine who has access to the King. Peter is usually pictured as having carrying large keys, representing the authority given to him by the Lord.

In the third chapter of the Book of Revelation, we read about the faithful people of the ancient city of Philadelphia in what is now Turkey. Because these people were devoted to Christ, they are told that the One who holds the keys of David has left the door open for them to pass through and enter into God’s Kingdom.

Of Peter and the Papacy – A Homily for the 21st Sunday of the Year - Community in Mission

The Gospel today sets forth the biblical basis for the Office of Peter, the Office of the Papacy, for Peter’s successors are the Popes. The word “pope” is simply an English version (via Anglo-Saxon and Germanic tongues) of the word “papa.” The Pope is affectionately called “Papa” in Italian and Spanish as an affectionate indication … Continue reading "Of Peter and the Papacy – A Homily for the 21st Sunday of the Year"

Community in Mission

Let’s look at this Gospel in three steps.

1. The Inquiry that Illustrates
2. The Individual that is Inspired
3. The Installation that is Initiated

Peter was given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven

Peter was given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  The idea of the keys comes from the passage we hear in the first reading.  In Isaiah 22 God is removing Shebna, the Prime Minister of the kingdom, because of his infidelity.  In his place God is going to appoint Hilkiah as his successor.  Among the various things given to Hilkiah, God says He will place the keys of the House of David on his shoulder.  The keys are the insignia of the Prime Minister.  The king was in charge of the kingdom, but the Prime Minister had the task of running the day-to-day operations of the kingdom.  The keys signify that he can open or lock anything in the kingdom.  In other words, he can make laws, dispense from laws, and make decisions with the authority of the king. 

Jesus is the King; Peter, and his successors, fill the office of the Prime Minister in the Kingdom of God on earth, that is, the Church.  Jesus founded the Church and the Papacy; He gave His authority to the Pope and made promises regarding the Church.  If Jesus is only a holy man, these promises mean little.  If He is God, they are absolute and guaranteed by God Himself.  So, who do you say Jesus is?

The Lord does not abandon His Church

Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A One of the weirdest movies I’ve ever watched is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,...

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Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, based on the Douglas Adam’s trilogy of books. The setting of the story is simple, the planet Earth is faced with destruction by an alien race as it wants to make way for an inter-galactic super-highway. At the beginning of the movie, we are treated to a strange commentary of dolphins being the most intelligent beings on Earth. Curiously enough, the dolphins had long known of the impending demolition of Earth and had made many attempts to alert mankind to the danger.  The funny thing was that most of their communications were misinterpreted, and as a result, you see amusing attempts to punch footballs, or whistle for titbits, so they eventually gave up and left Earth by their own means – shortly before the aliens arrived. The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double backwards somersault through a hoop, whilst whistling the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’.  The simple message was, in fact, “So long and thanks for all the fish”.  In short, “It’s farewell and goodbye!”

Many Catholics who seem to have an apocalyptic bent in reading the signs of the times may feel like the dolphins. There is no doubt that we live in troubled times: times that can challenge our faith. 

Clergy E-Notes

In today’s second reading, St. Paul pours out his heart in praise of the mysterious God who bends history towards redemption.

It might be hard to believe, and we may wonder how crimes against the dignity of the human person such as abortion and euthanasia fit into his designs, but God indeed allows all to sin that all might taste salvation. Despite man’s rebellion, God’s saving plan, in his infinite wisdom, moves forward.

This is beyond human understanding and no one can repay God for his gift of salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ. If God desires anything, it is simply the recognition that not only all that exists comes from him, but that we must strive to be dependent on him and to see everything as sheer gift.

Keys of the Kingdom

Jesus becomes very direct to his disciples: “But you? Who do you say I am?” Peter bursts out with “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” This divine revelation makes Peter the Rock on which the Church of God is to be built. There is then a movement from the rock-foundation to the keys of the kingdom.

It is disputed whether the image of the keys and that of binding and loosing are different metaphors meaning the same thing. In any case, the promise of the keys is given to Peter alone. Peter receives the Master key because he recognized Jesus as the Christ. This position is designed to him and his successors in the office. Let us pray today for the Pope who is the successor of Saint Peter so that he may continue to govern the Church in unity and in total submission to the will of God.

They Love Their Freedom

Bottom line: In union with the pope and the bishops, we experience the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Many years ago the mighty Persian Empire was set to attack the Greek city states. The Persians outnumbered the Greeks a hundred to one. Still, a Greek king named Demaratus warned the Persian emperor that the Greeks will fight to the last man because they love their freedom – and they love their law.*

They love their freedom and they love their law. We can see similar sentiments in the Bible. Earlier this summer we heard St. Paul speak about “the glorious freedom of the children of God”. Today we see the other side of the coin – Jesus setting up a governing structure for his Church, a framework for order and law. Out of the twelve apostles, Jesus selects Simon and says to him, “you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church…” 

Peter’s successors are the popes. The bishops, in union with the pope, provide the organizing structure – the law for Jesus’ church. That’s why our mission statement says, “Blessed to live in this beautiful valley, we are Christians in union with Pope Francis and Archbishop Etienne…” The pope and bishops provide a structure for living out of our faith.

You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church

Peter’s name has great meaning. In Aramaic, the language spoken in Palestine at the time of Jesus, the name “Peter” and the word “rock” were the same word, “Kepha.” So, in Aramaic, Jesus would have said, “You are Kepha and on this Kepha I will build my Church.” Of course Jesus is the foundation stone on which the Church is founded but the Pope is the visible human head of the Church on earth, an office and vocation founded by Jesus to guide the Church: “You are Kepha and on this Kepha I will build my Church.”

Institution of the Papacy

While we recognise the human weakness of individual Popes, let us remember the enormity of the ministry that the Pope has to carry. Let us support him by our prayers. While we must remain free to disagree with a Pope when he is wrong, let us never forget the special grace with which Jesus supports him. His ministry is to hold the whole of the Catholic world together. If that is truly a value, surely we can afford a little patience when Rome seems to be moving too slowly. Let us pay him the respect of our humble obedience as he guides us in our teaching, our governing and the loving that makes us holy.

Rock of Ages

“What’s happened to the church? The last council seems to be the work of the devil.” The words still stay with me, although I heard them from an older priest many years ago.

He died not long after, and I often wonder what he would think if he were still alive. The apparently serene and steady church he once knew, that ark of sure safety, has been sailing troubled waters, to say the least.

Elders question whether our young know enough dogma or tradition to pass anything on to their future children. Nagging doubts stimulate questions: does the language of holiness and transcendence, of sin and forgiveness, of objective right and wrong, of the sacred and eternal even make sense to most Catholics?

Unlocking a Relationship with the Lord

Both our first reading and our Gospel reading play with the metaphor of locks and keys. In our first reading, the Lord gave Eliakim the key to the House of David. In the Gospel reading Peter received the keys to the Kingdom of God. On the one hand, this is all very good news. Human beings can be entrusted with God’s keys. Heaven’s door doesn’t have to be locked to us. On the flip side, heaven does not seem to have an open door policy either. The good news though is Jesus gave Peter the keys to heaven. This should give us all great hope, and underscores how important a role the Apostolic Church has regarding our salvation.

I do wonder, however, if the analogy of “locks and keys” can be lost on the younger generation a bit. In fact, I think there could very well be a day in a decade or so when kids will have to be told what a key actually looks like as nowadays keys are being slowly replaced by number pads, automatic door openers and such. Even a lot of cars out there just have a start button these days. And so, perhaps a more modern analogy to all this could be taken from our smart phones, the very devices that are replacing keys for a number of people. What can smart phones tell us with regard to what opening our heart to Jesus looks like?

Who Do You Say That I am?

he Gospel passage we have heard (Mt. 16:13-20) is known as “the text regarding the primacy of Peter.” Yet, it is a Gospel passage that goes well beyond the theological debates of Peter’s primacy and questions the faith of each one of us.  

There are a number of lessons to be learned from today’s gospel.  As we reflect on this passage it is helpful to recognize the context in which it occurs.  After feeding the multitude and curing many people our Lord finds himself practically alone.  The crowd seems to be present when there is the possibility of healing from illness and when there is food to be had but then the crowd dwindles.  In a sense, our Lord, in this passage is left almost defeated.  After having so many people around and trying to make them into the People of God, he is now left alone – only with his small group of disciples.  Here is an important point to remember – the ways of God are not our ways.  God will not force his Kingdom.  Christ will usher in the Kingdom of God not through our world’s understanding of power, success and accomplishment but according to God’s terms nor will Christ usher in the Kingdom by seeking to cater to our every whim or entertain us with the latest fade.  Christ will always be authentic to himself, the Kingdom and the will of the Father.