Before I begin this homily, I'd like you stop, take a breath, and ask for the grace not to think "oh, I know what he is going to say because I've heard this Gospel many times, but instead I invite you right now to ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to His truth and the truth in your life, for each one of us will be held accountable to the truth of this Gospel.

Jesus asks his disciples who do  people say that He is.  And they answered that some people believe he is another John the Baptist, or Elijah, still others said Jeremiah or one of the prophets.  Let us quickly remind ourselves about who these characters are- let us look at  the Old Testament first.  Elijah was a greatly respected man of God, a man that God worked many miracles through- I think about the widowed mother who was about to make her last meal for her son and herself before all the ingredients for food ran dry- then she met Elijah, believed in him, did what he asked, and from that moment on the food  in her home never ran dry.  Elijah was such a holy man that when he died, Scripture says he was lifted up to Heaven.  The Prophet Jeremiah, one of the greatest spokesmen for God.  Certainly, Jeremiah was deeply respected, and thus many people reflected on their lives at the preaching and warnings of the Prophet Jeremiah.  John the Baptist probably the most famous of the three,   we know that he was the first to reveal Jesus to the world.  We know that thousands of people listened to John’s preaching and followed him, and chose to be baptized by him.  However, John proclaimed that the Messiah was coming, and Jesus was He!  Each of these are certainly holy men, men who were great instruments of God.  And notice how people honored or respected them, they followed John the Baptist, they respected and obeyed what Elijah had said, and they reflected on their lives at the words of the Prophet Jeremiah.  And certainly we should too, but none of them are the God made Man, the Messiah, none of them are as great as the only Son of the living God.  However, unfortunately, this is the extent to which many people in our times believe in Jesus, they only see him as a holy man who was a great instrument and spokesmen for God.

But Jesus asked the disciples, "who do you say that I am"?  If we say like Peter that we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, then our lives must reflect that.  Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God, is Jesus more than holy man, more than just an instrument or spokesperson for God?  If you say that Jesus is greater than John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah then our lives must reflect that. If we believe Jesus is God, then we must do more than believe in or obey him, more than follow him, more than reflect on his words, we must worship Him. We must bow down and surrender our lives to Him, we must make him the center of every aspect of our lives!  Anything short of that is not fully saying with our lives that Jesus is God.  If you say that Jesus is God, the question is do you worship, adore, have you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ?

Simon Peter answered that question the way we all should, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”.  And notice that Peter did not just say those words, they were not just lip-service, nor should they be for us.  Peter radically changed his life for Jesus.  He left everything, he gave up looking out for himself and started looking out for others first, Peter did give God everything.  He became a true disciple of Christ.   And although we all know he still was not perfect, Simon Peter surrendered to God his human weaknesses and repented of his sins.  And although he had many weaknesses, Peter never wavered in the call from Jesus to give everything and follow Him.  Peter never wavered in his faith and his knowledge of Jesus Christ.  And it is because Simon Peter surrendered his human weaknesses and never wavered in his faith that Jesus gave him a new identity, and changed his name to Peter, meaning “rock”.  Jesus says to Peter, that upon him Jesus will build his Church which will never be destroyed.  And just to be clear, Jesus only built one Church, and it was built upon Peter and the disciples.  And only about 100 years after Jesus was the one Church called the Catholic Church.  Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church, what this means is that the Church is eternal.  The Church is not just an organization which Jesus established on earth, the Church is eternal because the Church is the Body of Christ.  Jesus Christ is the head, and every member of the faithful is part of the body; and the body can never be separated from the Head. 

After establishing the Church on earth and preparing to go back to the Father in Heaven,  Jesus left someone in charge.  And this one person having all the authority and being in charge is where many people lose faith, but let us look at it practically.  No parents, in their right mind, would leave home for the evening, let alone even longer, saying to their, let’s say 4 young kids, "OK kids I trust all of you, and so you are all in charge, keeping my teachings in mind, you are all given the authority to do whatever you think is right". Can you image what would happen? No parents would leave without getting a baby sitter they trusted fully or put an older sibling they trusted in charge of their young kids.  And they would make sure that person in charge had all the contact numbers and everything they might possibly need.  And not only that, but they would make sure all their kids knew who was in charge, and that that person had the same authority as the parents, and they expected their kids to obey as such.  Just so, Jesus did not leave the Church saying, OK now do what I told you to do.  But then leave it up to us to figure out how to apply what he taught in our lives, in every difficult situation that would come up.  Yes God sent the Holy Spirit to remind us all that Jesus taught, but God knew that his sinful children needed more; He knew his children, if all given the same authority, would too easily twist his teachings to whatever they wanted, all claiming that they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. And such is the case in the 1000's of Christian denominations today.  So of course, God left someone in charge of his Church, and continues to empower that person, now Pope Francis, with His authority.

Jesus tells Peter that he will give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and give him his authority to bind or loose in his name, so what is bound or loose on earth is bound or loose in heaven.  So what is declared true on earth for the Church, is as it is in Heaven as well.  Keep in mind, this giving of the keys and authority is nothing new.  Throughout the Old Testament, every king would give authority, he would give the keys to the kingdom to one person, who was called the Prime Minister.  So that whenever he was away from his kingdom, his kingdom continued and was kept safe.  Look at our 1st reading from Isaiah 22 for example, King Hezekiah, the King of Israel, had put Shebna in charge, but he was found unworthy, and so as our 1st reading says, he gave the office Eliakim.  He gave him the royal robe and the key, so that whatever Eliakim opens, no one shall shut, and what he shuts no one shall open.  All of this symbolized the authority that King Hezekiah was giving to Eliakim, he did this so that everyone must listen and obey Eliakim as if he was king.

My brothers and sisters, do you see the Church as having the authority of Christ?  Do you follow the teachings of the Church as if they came from God?  One cannot say ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, but I don’t believe in the Church’s teachings’- they are one in the same.  Let me say it again, and let the Holy Spirit inspire you and the truth to sink in, one cannot say ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, but I don’t believe in the Church’s teachings’- they are one in the same. I know this can be difficult, but if there is a teaching of the Church you don’t understand, make sure you learn all you can about what and why the Church teaches it.  And if I can help you, I would love to be able to discuss what you struggle with and explain why the Church teaches what she does  But as you work to grow in your understanding of Church’s teaching, humbly submit to the authority, obey the Church’s teaching in faith as if they come from Jesus Christ himself, because they do.  Oftentimes obedience leads to understanding, but disobedience leads to isolation.  Will you humble yourself and submit in faith in Jesus Christ and His Church?  As you will remember, I asked you to invite the Holy Spirit to open your heart at the beginning of my homily.  Let’s take a moment, and ask the Holy Spirit how he wants you to grow, and draw closer to Jesus Christ and His Church.

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