The Supreme Importance of the Church
Sister Marta was born and raised in Managua, Nicaragua. Early in life she experienced an earthquake which claimed thousands of lives and destroyed her hometown. Later, political unrest, Communism, and persecution, especially of young people, caused her to migrate alone to the USA where she met new challenges. After a family tragedy and deeply affected by these adversities, Sister Marta began an inner search for answers to the mystery of life, suffering, truth, and the deepest yearnings of the human heart. She found the answer in Christ. By Divine Providence she met (and joined) the Secular Franciscans in Fresno, California, in 1994, and later, the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master where she discovered, with joy, an undeserved call to the consecrated life. Although a late vocation, she was admitted to the Congregation in 2000. Today, Sister Marta serves the Lord and His Church through her ministry at the Archdiocese of Boston.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 16:19)
When I was sent to Rome in 2010 to take a course, I was assigned an apostolate in St. Peter’s Basilica. Every day that I entered the basilica, I would notice a beautiful design of two keys printed on the floor. The sight of those keys in that ancient basilica touched me deeply and reminded me how real the promise is that Jesus made to St. Peter over 2,000 years ago. Oh, how my heart rejoiced!
Ten years later, my heart rejoiced again when the Catholic chapel, Corazones de Jesus y María, was built in my country, Nicaragua. This is significant because the chapel is situated in a poor rural area where different Protestant congregations exist. These congregations believe in “Sola Scriptura” (the Bible alone) as the only source of infallible authority. This belief has produced many different interpretations of the Bible and the concept of “Church.” Consequently, some groups claim to be the true church of Christ, while others assert that the Church is not important. This Sunday’s Gospel passage clearly and unambiguously debunks all these claims.
In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asks his disciples: Who do people say that the Son of Man is? The disciples reply: Elijah, John the Baptist, or Jeremiah. Then Jesus asks, But who do you say that I am? It is Simon Peter who answers correctly: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Surely it was not Peter’s genius or his theological studies that were the source of this assertion. We find the answer in Jesus’s reply to him: Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my heavenly Father. Immediately thereafter, Jesus pronounces the astonishing words that so many Christians fail to accept: And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my churchand the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it.
In order to clarify that the rock is not only Peter’s confession of faith, but also his person, Jesus adds: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Clearly, Christ was giving to Peter and his successors a very special ministry with high authority within the Church. We might ask ourselves, “Why, for this supreme task, would God choose a weak, cowardly human being who would deny Jesus three times and then run away to hide while Jesus is condemned, crucified, and buried?” We find our answer in this Sunday’s second reading:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! (Romans 11:33)
In other words, it isn’t because of the knowledge, power, or perfect sanctity of Peter (or his successors) that Jesus made these promises. It’s because Divine Wisdom chose it that way and will ensure that Truth is safeguarded in the Church. In fact, it was implicit in early Christianity that the Church would somehow be protected from error when imparting bindingdoctrine for all. Consequently, when the Catholic Church declared the books that were divinely inspired and gave us the Bible, the choice was accepted by all Christianity.
The keys I saw in St. Peter’s Basilica are a powerful symbol of the autority of “Peter” in Christ’s Church, and the assurance of the Divine origin of the Bible; the Bible, in turn, declares that the Church is the pillar and bulwark of Truth!(1Timothy 3:15) Indisputably, the Church is of supreme importance!!
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! (Romans 11:33)
Thanks in great part to Build the Faith, the chapel in Nicaragua, and the work of evangelization arising from it, has made an enormous difference in the surrounding rural communities of Diriamba. The acceptance of both Church and the Bible is not just a concern in Nicaragua, though. It is a contemporary issue that all Christians are facing. We cannot follow all sorts of different and interesting interpretations and teachings. We cannot build the faith from another foundation apart from the one already laid down by Christ on Peter and the Apostles (cf. Eph 2:20 and Rev 21:14). We, as living stones, must work alongside the Church! We must walk with the Church through her ups and downs, knowing that God’s Truth will be preserved and even revealed in more splendor because of those challenges (See Jn 16:13). Let’s not be afraid, we are built on rock! The gates of Hell will not prevail against us! May we continue to say with our little Christina:
Jesus, I trust in You! I trust in the promise You made to Your Church!!
*Today, let us offer a Rosary for our Holy Father and the entire Church as we approach the upcoming Synod.
