Homily 29 June 2003 By Fr. Hathaway FSSP Mater Dei Latin Mass Community
Saints Peter and Paul On Peter: Prince of the Apostles
“Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona,... I say to thee, ‘thou art Peter,...’”
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Before a king takes leave of his kingdom he establishes a prime minister
who will administer the law and rule in the king’s absence. Only a
foolish king would depart his realm without having secured the means of order
in his absence... and Christ the King is not foolish.
Before His departure, our Savior, who is the eternal and infinitely wise
king, left His kingdom (Catholic Church) to be ruled by a long line
of vicars until His final return. This is especially evident in three
scriptural events: one at the beginning of Christ’s third year of public
ministry, another at the end of it, and a third after His resurrection.
First, in the beginning of the third year of His public ministry, our Lord
preaches among the Gentiles. As read is today’s gospel, Christ is
in the tetrarchy of Philip, the pagan city of Ceasarea Philippi. Philip
rebuilt this ancient city and renamed it after Caesar Augustus. Originally,
it was named Paneas (Banias) after a sacred spring which fed the Jordan
and where a temple dedicated to the god Pan was erected.
St. Matthew’s gospel reads, “Now Jesus, having come into the district of
Caesarea Philippi, began to ask His disciples, saying, ‘Whom do men say
the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and
others, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the Prophets.’ And
He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered
and said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Mt 16:13-ff)
At first, Christ asks who men say He is; then He asks His apostles who
He is. When they are asked what men think of Him , each has something
to say; when they are asked who He is, only Peter responds. “Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” As given him by the Father
to say, Peter says, ‘the Christ’ to indicate Christ is the one Messiah (anointed)
prophesied of old; Peter says, ‘the Son of the living God’ to single out
Christ as the unique Son of God different from any just man who could be
called, ‘a son of God’ AND to distinguish the true and eternal God from the
false and dead gods of paganism.
As Peter spoke for the group so Christ promises him principality of leadership,
“Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church.” And Peter
is promised the keys of the kingdom of heaven, “And I will give thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
Our second instance occurs on Holy Thursday. The day before Christ
is to suffer and die, He tells His apostles, “You will all be scandalized
this night; for it is written, ‘I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep
of his flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go
before you into Galilee.” Then He singles out Peter, “Simon, Simon,
behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail; and do thou when
once thou has turned again, strengthen thy brethren.” (Lk 22:31-ff)
Satan desires to sift all the apostles for the “you” here is in the plural
(Satanas expetivit vos); our Lord prays only for Peter that his faith not
fail (ego autem rogavi pro te ut non deficiat fides tua).
And this also happened to fulfill a divine plan.
But we are not done with this passage. For Simon Peter, feeling
strong, says to His master, “Lord, I am ready to go with Thee both into
prison and to death.” In response, our Savior with what must have
been a pained sigh, turns to Peter saying, “I say to thee, Peter, the cock
shall not crow this day, till thou thrice deniest that thou knowest Me.”
Our last reference occurs after our Lord’s resurrection. The incident
takes place on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee), Simon Peter’s
fishing hole. Indeed, that is what Simon Peter was doing before meeting
Christ in His third appearance to the apostles. Gathered with some
other apostles, Simon Peter says to them, “I am going fishing.” They
tell him, “We also are going with thee.” They set out in a boat.
Spending the night fishing they catch nothing. As the day breaks Jesus
calls from the bank, “Young men, have you any fish?” They answer,
“No.” He then tells them “Cast the net to the right of the boat and
you will find them.”
The apostles do so and catch a great number of fish. The disciple
whom Jesus loved tells Peter, “It is the Lord.” Peter then jumps into
the water while the boat with the other disciples comes ashore where they
reunite and have a fish breakfast.
From this point, St. John’s gospel reads, “When, therefore, they had breakfasted,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, dost thou love Me more then
these do?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, thou knowest that I love Thee.’
He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’ He said to him a second time, ‘Simon,
son of John, dost thou love Me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, Thou
knowest that I love Thee.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’
A third time He said to him, ‘Simon, son of John, dost thou love Me?’
Peter was grieved because He had said to him for the third time, ‘Dost thou
love Me.’ And he said to him, ‘Lord thou knowest all things, thou
knowest that I love Thee.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.’”
(Jn 21:15-17)
Scripture could be no clearer: by this holy exchange, Peter repairs for
his thrice denying his Lord during the Passion; by the holy commission to
‘feed lambs and sheep’, Christ fulfills His promise to Peter made at Caesarea
Philippi that Peter would hold the primacy of power in His Church. Peter
becomes the prime minister of the King; he is now the supreme shepherd of
the flock of Christ both of His lambs and sheep, i.e. laity and hierarchy.
Christ gave the keys of heaven to Peter alone; Christ singularly prayed
that Peter’s faith not fail; Christ commissioned only Peter to feed His flock.
These happened to a man but not for the man himself but for the office he
was to hold. The office of Peter is to be the vicar of Christ on earth,
to rule and govern the holy Catholic Church until the end of the world.
It is foolish - if not outright disobedience to Christ - to look for any
other prime minister of the Church Jesus Christ established on this earth
for the salvation of all men.
Let us stay close to the vicar of Christ and pray for him daily.
What does the Acts of the Apostles tell us today, “Peter was being kept
in prison; but prayer was being made to God for him by the Church without
ceasing.” After an angel releases Peter and departs, Peter exclaims,
“Now I know for certain that the Lord sent His angel and rescued me from
the power of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
Would Peter have been released without ceaseless prayer? No.
Scripture is not without purpose or instruction. If the Church prayed
for Peter without ceasing 2000 years ago it is so that the Church may know
to pray without ceasing for all her vicars throughout history.
In many ways Peter is still bound with chains, surrounded by enemy guards,
held in prison; too often we are unsympathetic to the difficulties of his
office and ever offer him a surplus of complaint for his decisions; perhaps
if we prayed more for Peter we would have less to complain about.