Keys to Heaven

Feast of the Chair of Saint a Peter, Apostle

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Gospel of Matthew 16:13-19

"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the neither world 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 is loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, the apostle.  Pope Benedict XVI describes the meaning of the "chair" eloquently:

"The chair represents (the pope's) mission as guide to the entire people of God.  Celebrating the 'Chair' of Peter means  attributing a strong spiritual significance to it and recognizing it as a privileged sign of the love of God."

Jesus giving the keys of heaven to Saint Peter lays down the foundation for the birth of the Catholic Church.  Saint Peter, technically our first "Pope", will be responsible for not only spreading the Christian faith but also growing the Church.  Today, Pope Francis and other popes of the past follow this same lineage.  One thing fundamentally different about the Catholic church versus the Protestant church is this idea of papacy.  Unfortunately, some people think Catholics "worship" the Pope just like they do Mary and statues of the Saints.  This is far from the truth!!  

Whenever I read this passage from scripture, the idea of "binding and loosing" has always confused me.  It's difficult to interpret and even after studying it extensively I still don't quite get it.  I'm no theologian or biblical scholar.  But, how I see it is this:  Jesus  chose Saint Peter as the future leader of the Christian Church.  Whatever Saint Peter decides is good for the Church or bad for the Church, God will inspire and influence such a decision. There will be continuous spiritual dialog between God in heaven and the Vicar of Christ on earth. God will not leave Peter alone to continue his mission without divine assistance.  In fact, divine assistance will continue with all future Popes.  Our Lord will not allow his Church to fail!  We've seen through the centuries how the Catholic church has been attacked from all fronts.  Even to this day the church is bombarded by resentment, hate, and misunderstanding. Yet, 2000 years later it still remains.  It's still growing by leaps and bounds, especially in Africa and Latin America.  The Catholic Church is strong and vigilant.  It will not be crushed or torn apart!

Let us continuously pray for Pope Francis.  He has such a difficult and stressful job!  However, he's doing amazingly well.  His personality and friendliness is putting the Catholic church in a more positive framework, especially in media circles.  Yes, we still have our problems and our wounds.  The Catholic church is not perfect.  However, it's promising to know that Our Lord really has everything under control.  The fact that our cardinals elected the first Latin American to the papacy is amazing in itself.  The fact that Pope Francis' personality is drawing people back to the faith is remarkable. I can't imagine the Catholic church without the chair of Peter as leader.

-J.