moral problem creating life outside the womb, the Catholic Church witnesses to the natural means of conception. The pope and bishops teach the sacredness of life, as secular culture advocates euthanasia.
The chief shepherd, Christ, is the model the pope strives to emulate. Christ has promised divine assistance to the man who sits in Peter’s chair. That gives Catholics a sense of security that they are being taught the truth, that they are being made holy, and that they are being governed by Christ in the person of the pope.
Meditation: In what specific ways have you experienced the teaching, sanctifying, and governing office of the pope either directly or through your local bishop or pastor?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit upon your Church to assist her leaders in teaching, sanctifying, and governing your people. Guide the vicar of Christ on earth, the pope, with this same Spirit that when the chief shepherd appears, all your people will win the crown of glory that never fades away. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Rock
Matthew 16:13–19
Scripture: [Jesus said to Simon Peter:] “. . . [Y]ou are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).
Reflection: When hearing the title of today’s feast, the Chair of St. Peter, most people think of a physical chair instead of the authority that the title of the feast indicates. Basically, this is a feast that celebrates the leadership and authority of the papacy. As the successor of Peter, the pope presides over the Church in unity.
The gospel chosen for this feast from Matthew comes from two sources. First, Mark’s Gospel is the source for the narrative in the district of Caesarea Philippi. Matthew has changed a number of details to prepare for his additions to the story. Second, Matthew, written around 80 AD, presents what biblical scholars call unique Petrine material, that is, stories that feature Peter that are not found in any other gospel.
Unique Petrine material was created by Matthew or gathered from a source to which he had access in order to re-create the character of Peter found in Mark’s Gospel. Peter is characterized as a fool in Mark. Matthew chooses to present him as a leader. So, to Mark’s account of Jesus’ questioning his disciples as to his identity, Matthew adds the words of Jesus declaring that Peter is the recipient of divine revelation after Peter answers Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (16:16).
The Matthean Jesus makes it clear that Peter is the foundation for the church: “. . . [Y]ou are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (16:18). The play on words does not work in the English translation of the Greek text. In Greek, the word “petra” means “rock”; thus, the name “Peter” indicates that the man is the foundation of the church. As most notes in Bibles indicate, Peter is known by his Aramaic name, “Kephas,” in the early church. “Kephas” is derived from the Aramaic word for rock, namely, “kepha.” In both Greek and Aramaic the word play is obvious, but is missed in English translation. In order to capture the intent of the Matthean Jesus’ words, the verse needs to be translated like this: You are Rocky, and upon this foundation I will build my church.
Matthew is the only gospel to use the Greek word “ekklesia” (or “ecclesia”), translated into English as “church.” The word does not refer to a building, as it does in contemporary parlance. In Matthew, church is an assembly of people. This community is built on and held together by the Rock, Peter.
Another Petrine passage is added by Matthew. Jesus gives the keys to the kingdom of heaven to Peter. In the ancient world, a key was a sign of authority; it gave its bearer the ability to admit and to keep out. Jesus assures Peter that whatever he binds on earth will be bound in the kingdom; and whatever he loses on earth will be loosed in the kingdom.
The Church has understood this passage to be her basis for continuing the teaching of Jesus for two thousand years, especially concerning matters of faith and morals. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting St. Maximus the Confessor, states, “. . . [A]ll Christian churches everywhere have held and hold the great Church that is here [at Rome] to be their only basis and foundation since, according to the Savior’s promise, the gates of hell have never prevailed against her” (834).
Today’s feast celebrates the fact that we “believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,” as we profess in the Nicene Creed, founded by Christ on the Rock (Peter) and presided over by Peter’s successor.
Meditation: What does it mean to you to be a member of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church?
Prayer: Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Simon Peter’s profession of faith led your Son to declare him the foundation stone of the Church and to give him the authority to teach your truth. Keep us faithful to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church and grant us admittance to the kingdom, where you live and reign with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
March 19: Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
David
2 Samuel 7:4–5a, 12–14a, 16
Scripture: “. . . [T]he word of the LORD came to Nathan [the prophet]: Go and tell my servant [King] David: Thus says the LORD: Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam 7:4, 16).
Reflection: The short, pieced-together passage for this Solemnity of St. Joseph is part of a much longer discourse given by the prophet Nathan to King David. The king proposes to build a house for God, that is, a temple in Jerusalem into which the ark of the covenant will be placed. However, instead of David building a house for God, the LORD declares that he will build a house, that is, a dynasty, for David.
Biblical theologians refer to this as the “everlasting covenant.” God promises David that there will always be a king from David’s family ruling in Jerusalem. The promise made to David around 1000 BC continued until 587 BC when the last king of Judah went into Babylonian Captivity. After this, the everlasting covenant became a messianic expectation; God would provide a messiah, who would rescue the people and restore the Kingdom of Judah politically and religiously. Historically, this never happened.
One of the earliest writers about Jesus of Nazareth believes that he is that hoped-for messiah. Around 80 AD, the author of Matthew’s Gospel began his book with a “genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1). Joseph, to whom Mary is engaged, is addressed by an angel of the Lord in a dream as a “son of David” (1:20). Thus, the author of Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the messianic expectation ignoring two problems. First, if the Holy Spirit is the father of the child in Mary’s womb (1:18), Joseph is not the father and the genealogy back to David does not work. Second, Jesus did not restore the Kingdom of Judah; he died at the hands of the Romans occupying what had once been that nation.
However, if Joseph is understood as the legal father of Jesus, then the author of the first gospel has made his point. Carefully, he declares through the angel of the Lord that Jesus “will save his people from their sins” (1:21). Like the other unexpected people listed in his genealogy, especially the four women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, wife of Uriah), the author of Matthew’s Gospel proclaims Jesus to be the messiah through whom God fulfills his promise.
The author of Matthew’s Gospel understands that God works in ways that people often do not understand, and Joseph, husband of Mary, is one prime example of that. When we hear
