Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld 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 you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
REFLECTION
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
Caesarea Philippi was not a Jewish town, in fact it was known for its pagan ways, with its deity Pan. Either Jesus was staying away from the Jewish authorities or a message was meant for Caesarea.
When asked, Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of the Living God. Jesus issues His own declaration that Peter will be the foundation of the new Church.
We have a new Pope. We saw a cacophony of noise as to which poll was correct, would the new pope be this or that cardinal, people opining as to why one cardinal might not be correct because either he was too liberal, too conservative, too progressive, known, not known, in favor of Latin Mass or not. In fact the reporters mentioned that the vote was for the successor of Pope Francis!! No, the successor of St Peter.
Jesus named Peter the Rock and foundation of His Church. He gave him the keys of the Church; he was to be the Shepherd of His flock. Peter is the chief steward of God's Kingdom, not an earthly worldly political office. His successor is voted by the cardinals under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Peter's authority is intended for succession. We have seen it played out during the month of May, with the election of Pope Leo XIV, the inauguration of the Petrine Ministry Mass, receiving the Fisherman's ring and the pallium, symbols of the succession and authority from Peter.
God Bless You. Pray for priests and for one another.
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