Listening to Christ Through Peter

by Fr. Roger J. Landry - February 22, 2005

Gospel Passage

Matt. 16:13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Brief Commentary

Today we celebrate the relationship between Christ and Peter.

Peter had listened to the Father, who revealed to him that Jesus was the Messiah, the "Son of the Living God."

Now we listen to the Father's beloved Son, as he changes the fisherman's name to the Aramaic word for "rock" and describes what he will do with that rock: "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church."

The Church Jesus founded is continually under construction. Peter himself would say the Church was built of "living stones" (members of Christ's body) with Christ as the cornerstone (1 Pet 2:5-8). But it is a Church built on a LIVING ROCK, the petrine ministry.

The chair was an ancient symbol of teaching authority. To celebrate the "chair of St. Peter," is to celebrate the authority Christ gave to St. Peter. Peter, with Christ's keys in his hands and the Lord's power to bind and loose in heaven and earth, is the echo of Christ's voice. "Whoever hears you hears me" (Lk 10:16).

May the same Father who continues to help the successors of St. Peter to confess Christ as Messiah and Son of God help all of us in Christ's flock to hear the Good Shepherd's voice through the successor of St. Peter.

Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.