Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
SOLEMNITY OF
SAINTS PETER AND PAUL (Cycles ABC)
June 29th (Mass during the day)
Readings:
Acts 12:1-11
Psalm 34:2-9 (34:1-8 in some other versions)
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18
Matthew 16:13-19
Abbreviations: NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), NABRE (New American Bible Revised, St. Joseph Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, which is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: Faith, Leadership, and Sacrifice
Today we celebrate the mission, martyrdom, and eternal life
of two men whose faith, dedication, and leadership are examples of true
Christian heroism. Simon-Peter, called to follow Jesus in the first year of His
ministry, was designated by the Lord as the leader of the twelve Apostles and
Christ's Vicar over His Kingdom of the earthly Church. Jesus did not call Paul to
discipleship until after His Resurrection. Jesus made St. Paul the Church's
apostle to the Gentiles.
In the First Reading, we read about King Herod Agrippa I's persecution of Christians in Judea. He had the Apostle St. John Zebedee executed by beheading. Then, he ordered the arrest of St. Peter with the intention of another mock trial and public execution. However, God intervened to save Peter, whose work to spread the Gospel of salvation and establish the Universal Church was only beginning.
The Responsorial Psalm is a prayer of thanks and trust in the Lord. It is an invitation to believers in all generations to acknowledge that the Lord is near to those who call upon Him in sincere faith, and no mortal affliction can separate the faithful from the love of God.
The Second Reading is from St. Paul's letter to St. Timothy during his last imprisonment and just before his martyrdom. Paul expressed gratitude to God for a past deliverance (probably his first Roman imprisonment). However, Paul recognized that his death was imminent and asked for God's protection in facing his final ordeal that would herald his entrance into eternal life. Paul regards his coming martyrdom as an act of worship in which his blood will be poured out like a sacrifice as he joins Christ in His suffering to also join Him in glory (Rom 8:17; 12:1).
In the Gospel Reading, after Simon's profession of faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah and Son of God, He responded by reaffirming the change of Simon's name to Kepha = Rock, Petros in Greek, a name He gave Simon when John the Baptist first introduced Jesus to the crowds as "the Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29, 42). A change in the name of a servant of God signified a change in destiny. In the Old Testament, "rock" was a title for God and a word also used to describe Abraham as the physical father from whom the children of Israel "were hewn" (Is 51:1-2). Rock is not just an adjective to describe Peter as the spiritual father of the New Covenant children of God. Jesus used the word as a personal name, signifying a change in Simon's destiny as the leader and foundation "rock" of His Kingdom of the Church (CCC 881).
Together Saints Peter and Paul founded the New Covenant universal Church's geographic center in Rome. Both men entered Christ's glory during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero circa AD 67. They died on the same day as they suffered martyrdom for their unyielding faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.1 The pagan Romans granted St. Peter's request to be crucified upside down since he did not consider himself worthy of being crucified in the same manner as his Lord and Savior. His crucifixion site was by an Egyptian obelisk near Vatican hill in Rome. St. Paul, a Roman citizen, was beheaded outside the walls of Rome. Today's entrance antiphon remembers their faith and sacrifice: "These men, conquering all human frailty, shed their blood and helped the Church grow. By sharing the cup of the Lord's suffering, they became the friends of God."
The First Reading Acts 12:1-10 ~ God Intervenes to Save
St. Peter's Life
1 In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members
of the church to harm them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, killed by the
sword, 3 and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to
arrest Peter also. It was the feast of Unleavened Bread. 4 He had him taken
into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers
each. He intended to bring him before the people after Passover. 5 Peter thus
was being kept in prison, but prayer by the church was fervently being made to
God on his behalf. 6 On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial,
Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while
outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. 7 Suddenly the angel of the
Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side
and awakened him, saying, "Get up quickly." The chains fell from his wrists. 8 The
angel said to him "Put on your belt and your sandals." He did so. Then he said
to him, "Put on your cloak and follow me." 9 So he followed him out, not realizing
that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a
vision. 10 They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron
gate leading out to the city, which opened for them by itself. They emerged and
made their way down an alley, and suddenly the angel left him.
Jesus renamed the Apostle Simon "Kepha," which means "rock" in Hebrew/Aramaic and is transliterated in English as "Peter" from the Greek "Petros" (Jn 1:42; Mt 16:17-18). Jesus commissioned him to become the "rock" on which He built His Kingdom of the Church (Mt 16:19; Jn 21:15-19). After Jesus's Resurrection, St. Peter took up his office as chief minister, the Vicar of Christ. First, he directed the Apostles to fill the apostolic office vacated by the betrayal of Judas Iscariot in Acts 1:15-26. Then, immediately after God the Holy Spirit took possession of the Apostles and disciples praying in the Upper Room in Jerusalem on the Jewish feast of Weeks/Pentecost, he boldly delivered a public address to the people of Jerusalem, proclaiming Jesus of Nazareth the promised Davidic Messiah and bringing three thousand converts into the Church (Acts Chapter 2).
The Jews of the Old Covenant felt threatened by the growing influence of those who accepted Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Davidic Messiah. They sought to persecute and kill Jesus's followers. Today's first reading is an account of St. Peter's miraculous deliverance after his imprisonment by King Herod Agrippa I (reigned 41-44 AD), the grandson of Herod the Great. When Herod the Great died, Romans divided his kingdom among three of his sons, with the eldest son, Herod Archelaus, becoming the ethnarch of Judea. After the dismal failure of Archelaus to rule Judea, the Romans banished him and reduced Judea to the status of a Roman province. Roman governors ruled Judea from AD 6-44, when Roman Emperor Claudius was instrumental in having Herod's grandson Agrippa appointed the King of Judea and the territories of Galilee, Batanaea, and Perea. Agrippa was raised in Rome but considered himself a Jew. When he became king of Judea, he sought to curry favor with the Jews by persecuting Christians. In circa AD 42/44, he ordered the execution of the Apostle St. James Zebedee, and then the day after the Passover sacrifice, on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, he had St. Peter arrested, intending to have another mock trial and public execution. However, God intervened to save Christ's Vicar, whose work to spread the Gospel was not yet finished.
St. Peter's deliverance by an angel of the Lord recalls Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage during what became the first Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ex 12:17). Like Israel, St. Peter was rescued at the Feast of Unleavened, which lasted eight days from the day after the miracle of the Passover from Nisan 15-21 from the clutches of a wicked king (Ex 12:1-20, 50). And like the Israelites on the night of their Exodus liberation, Peter was told to gird himself with his belt and to put sandals on his feet (Ex 12:11 compared to Acts 12:8). St. Peter, guarded by sixteen Roman soldiers and chained between two of them, did not immediately understand that he was being rescued from prison by an angel of the Lord. It took the urging of a very patient angel to get Peter dressed and moving out of his cell, past the guards who could not see him, and out of the prison's iron gate that opened miraculously.
After escaping from prison, Peter told the Christian community in Jerusalem that he needed to leave Judea (Acts 12:17). According to the early history of the Church, St. Peter journeyed to Syria and spent seven years with the Christian community at Antioch, Syria (St. Paul's home church) as his headquarters before traveling to Rome. In Rome, he established the center of the universal (the meaning of the word catholic) Church that was, by Jesus's command, to extend to the "ends of the earth" (Mt 28:19; Acts 1:8). Peter served as the first Bishop of Rome and the Pope (Papa/Father) of the universal Church headquartered in the Roman capital for twenty-five years.2 St. Peter suffered martyrdom by crucifixion during the reign of Emperor Nero in circa AD 67, fulfilling Jesus's prophecy to him on the manner of his death. In a post-resurrection appearance on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus told Peter: "Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me" (Jn 21:18-19).
Responsorial Psalm 34:2-9 ~ Thanksgiving to God Who
Delivers the Just (34:1-8 in some other versions) A Psalm of David
The response is: "The angel of the Lord will rescue those
who fear him."
2 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be
ever in my mouth. 3 My soul will glory in the LORD; let the poor hear and be
glad.
Response:
4 Magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
5 I sought the LORD, and he answered me, delivered me from all my fears.
Response:
6 Look to him and be radiant, and your faces may not
blush for shame. 7 This poor one cried out and the LORD heard, and from all his
distress he saved him.
Response:
8 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he saves them. 9 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the stalwart
one who takes refuge in him.
Response:
This psalm is entitled: Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who forced him to depart, and refers to when David was utterly alone except for God's presence and protection (1 Sam 21:13-16). When David realized that his Philistine enemy might kill him, he feigned madness before Achish, the Philistine king of Gath, and managed to escape. David gave credit to God for his salvation. Abimelech ("father is king") in the psalm's title may be the dynastic name for the Philistine king and not a personal name (as in the Abimelech in Gen 20:2-18 who knew Abraham and another Philistine king called Abimelech who knew Isaac in 26:1, 8-16).
The psalm begins with the psalmist proclaiming praise to God for his salvation and inviting those who have also suffered to unite themselves to the Lord in verses 2-4 (1-3). The rest of the psalm explains why those in danger should do this. In verses 5-7 (4-6), the palmist relates a personal experience of affliction and salvation when he experienced the power of God amid his distress and bore witness to God's intervention to save him. Based on his experience, he encourages others to know the same goodness of God in verses 8-9 (7-8). He uses a military metaphor ("encamped"), recalling the Angel of the Lord who protected the armies of Israel in the Exodus out of Egypt (Ex 14:19-20) and in the conquest of Canaan (Josh 5:13-15). The psalmist proclaims that God continues to aid those who fear him (verse 7) and invites his listeners to "taste and see" God's goodness for themselves. It is an invitation to experience God's intervention in their lives using the language of communion with the One True God as in the Toda/Todah ("thanksgiving" in Hebrew) sacred meal reserved only for those in covenant with Yahweh and a condition of ritual purity (free from sin).
This prayer of thanks and trust in the Lord is an invitation to believers in all generations to acknowledge that the Lord is near to those who call upon Him in sincere faith and that no mortal affliction can separate the faithful from the love of God. In our New Covenant communion Toda, the sacred meal of the Eucharist ("thanksgiving" in Greek), we also "taste and see" the goodness of God.
The Second Reading 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18
6 I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have competed well; I have
finished the race; I have kept the faith. 8 From now on the crown of
righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on
that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed of his appearance. [...]
17 The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation
might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from
the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will
bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
The Second Reading is from St. Paul's letter to St. Timothy during his last imprisonment before his martyrdom. St. Paul's birthplace was the Roman provincial capital of Tarsus in Asia Minor, and his Hebrew name was "Saul." He was an officer of the Jewish Sanhedrin (Jewish high court) in Jerusalem, and as the court's representative, he persecuted Christians (Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-2; 22:3-5). While on the way to Damascus (Syria) to arrest Christians, Paul came face to face with a vision of the resurrected Jesus Christ. His conversion experience led to his baptism and a life of service to Christ and His Church as Jesus's apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:3-19; Gal 2:2).
Sponsored by his Christian community in Antioch, Syria, St. Paul led three missionary journeys into Asia Minor and Greece, where he successfully preached the Gospel and founded many faith communities. Later, he was arrested in Jerusalem and sent to Rome by the Roman governor of Judea when he appealed to Caesar as a Roman citizen (Acts 26:32). In Rome, he was under house arrest, but he was allowed to teach the Christian communities there for at least two years while awaiting trial (Acts 28:30-31). After his release, he is believed to have made a fourth missionary journey to spread the Gospel to Spain and perhaps even Britain. Upon returning to Rome, St. Paul was arrested along with St. Peter during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Nero (reigned AD 54-68). According to Church historians like Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea (Eusebius, Church History, XXV.5-8), they suffered martyrdom on the same day. St. Peter was crucified, and St. Paul, a Roman citizen, was beheaded in c. AD 67.
6 I, Paul,
am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at
hand.
Paul recognized that his death was imminent and was prepared
to face the final ordeal that would herald his entrance into eternal life. He
regarded dying for his faith in Jesus, the divine Messiah, as an act of worship
in which his blood would be poured out as a sacrifice (Ex 29:38-40; Phil 2:17;
2 Tim 4:6).
In verses 7-8, St. Paul used sports metaphors to compare his life to a race he completed with honor and won a victory, not for himself but for his Savior. He can testify to the accomplishment of what Christ foretold concerning him at the time of Paul's conversion experience when Jesus said: "I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name" (Acts 9:16). St. Paul had confidence that his reward would not be the meaningless laurel crown awarded to Roman athletes or victorious generals. He had faith that God, the "just judge," would award him with eternal life as the resurrected Jesus promised the Christians of Smyrna in Asia Minor: "Do not be afraid of anything that you are going to suffer. Indeed, the devil will throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will face an ordeal for ten days. Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev 2:10).
17 The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that
through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear
it. And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from
every evil threat and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be
glory forever and ever. Amen.
In this passage, Paul expressed gratitude to God for a past
deliverance (probably his first Roman imprisonment). He wrote his mission was
to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles, fulfilling Jesus's command to spread the
Gospel to the "ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). When Paul wrote his letter, the disciples
of Jesus Christ had preached the Gospel message to the ends of the Roman Empire.
His mention of being saved from "the lion's mouth" may refer to being saved
from death in the Roman arena during his first imprisonment. Years earlier, he wrote
to the Christians of Rome that if Christians were willing to join Christ in His
suffering, they would also join Him in glory (Rom 8:17; 12:1). In verse 18, St.
Paul expressed every confidence that the Lord would save his soul and bring him
into God's heavenly Kingdom.
The Memorial of the Martyrs of Rome under Nero, celebrated by the Church the day after this Solemnity, remembers the nameless saints who died during the same persecution by Nero under which Sts. Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom.
The Gospel of Matthew 16:13-19 ~ St. Peter's
Profession of the Christ
13 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 They
replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or
one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon
Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17 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. 18 And so I say to
you, you are Peter [Petros], and upon this rock [petra] I will build my Church
[ekklesia], and the gates of the netherworld [Hades] shall not prevail against
it. 19 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."
[...] = literal translation (IBGE, vol.
IV, pages 47-48).
Jesus led His disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi, about 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. Caesarea Philippi was a town (also described as a collection of villages in Mk 8:27) near the southern slope of Mount Hermon on the border with Syria. Located in what had been the territory of the Israelite tribe of Dan, it was at one time the northern boundary of Israel. When Jesus took His disciples there, it was part of the tetrarchy of Herod the Great's son Philip with a predominantly Gentile population. The city was near a spring that was a source of the Jordan River and was considered a spiritual location from the time of the Canaanite inhabitants who built shrines to Baal-gad (Josh 11:17; 12:7; 13:5) and Baal-Hermon (Judg 3:3; 1 Chr 5:23). At this northernmost location of what had been the nation of Israel, Jesus gathered His disciples.
After the Greek conquest in the 4th century BC, they dedicated a shrine to Pan (pagan god of nature, shepherds, flocks, the spring, and fertility) at the site where the headwaters of the Jordan River emerged from the ground (Josephus, Antiquities, 15.10.3 [364]). They also named the nearby town Panias after the Greek god. Then, in the latter part of the 1st century BC, Herod the Great built a temple for the Roman ruler Caesar Augustus near the source of the Jordan River. When Herod Philip became the region's ruler, he rebuilt the small town of Panias into a Hellenistic city, naming it after the Roman Caesar and adding his name. In choosing this rocky mountain location to announce the foundation of His New Covenant Church upon Peter and Peter's proclamation of faith in Him as the divine Messiah, Jesus was reclaiming the holy ground that the pagans had usurped.
In verse 13, using His favorite title for Himself, "Son of Man," Jesus asked the disciples about the view of most people concerning His true identity. They respond that some thought He was John the Baptist returned from the dead (like Herod Antipas in Mt 14:2). Others thought He was the prophet Elijah, prophesied to herald the coming of the Messiah (Mal 3:23/4:5). But others said that Jesus had come in the spirit of the prophet Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.
All of the men mentioned by the disciples were prophets. While there had been many false prophets, the people realized that the true spirit of prophecy had been absent from the covenant people of God since the prophet Malachi in the late 5th century BC. The coming of God's supreme prophet, as promised in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, and an outpouring of God's Spirit (Ez 36:26-27; Joel 3:1-2) were the signs that the people believed heralded the coming of the Messianic Age. Jesus was teaching with authority, speaking in the symbolic language of the prophets, and performing miracles and symbolic acts like the prophets. Jesus even referred to Himself as a prophet several times during His ministry (Mt 13:57; Lk 4:24; 7:26; 13:33).
Then Jesus asked His disciples what they believed about His true identity, and Peter professed that He was not only the Messiah but also "the Son of the Living God." But what did Peter mean by using those titles for Jesus in his confession of faith? While the usual meaning of the title "son of God" in the Old Testament referred to a form of adoption as "sons" of God for angels, prophets, the children of Israel, and Davidic kings, this was not the way Peter offered his confession of Jesus's true identity. Jesus's response tells us that Peter understood Jesus's true identity as the divine Son of God (see CCC 441-42).
17 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 (underlining added for emphasis).
Acknowledging Peter's confession of faith, Jesus blessed him
and told the assembled disciples that Simon-Peter received his knowledge not from
any human person ("flesh and blood") but, by the grace of God the Father, Peter
received a divine revelation of Jesus's true nature.
18 And so I say to you, you are Peter [Petros], and upon
this rock [petra] I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld
[Hades] shall not prevail against it.
Jesus was speaking in Aramaic, which was the common tongue, and
the Aramaic translation of the keywords for "rock" in Jesus's statement would
have been (in English): "You are the Rock [Kepha], and upon this rock [kepha] I
will build my Church." In response to Peter's confession of faith, Jesus reaffirmed
the name He gave Simon when they first met on the banks of the Jordan River
before He began His ministry in Galilee. At that time, He said, "You are Simon
the son of John; you will be called Kephas" (which is translated Peter)
(Jn 1:42; underlining added for emphasis; also see Mk 3:16 and Lk 6:14 for evidence
of an earlier name change. Kephas is the transliteration of the Aramaic word
kepha in the Greek language).
In the Greek text, Matthew uses the masculine Petros for the Greek feminine word for "rock," petra. Biblical scholars and historians have not found evidence that Kepha or Petros were personal names before Jesus conferred the name on Simon. The name change identified Peter as the leader of the Apostles by symbolically changing his name to reflect his change in destiny from humble fisherman to the foundation stone of the Messiah's community of disciples.3
Notice that Jesus identified the name of Peter's father as "John" (Yehohanan in Hebrew) in John 1:42 when He first gave Simon the name "Kephas/Kepha." The same name for Peter's father is also given three other times in John 21:15, 1, 6, and 17. However, in Matthew 16:17, Jesus called him Simeon bar Jonah (Matthew uses the Aramaic word for son, "bar" instead of the Hebrew, "ben"). This was the sixth time Jesus mentioned the Galilean prophet, Jonah, symbolically linking the prophet Jonah to Jesus's mission, but this time Jesus connected Jonah to Peter's mission (see Mt 12:39, 40, 41 twice, and 16:4 or the chart in Matthew Lesson 16, Handout 1).
If Simon-Peter was the son of a man named "John," why did Jesus call Peter "Simon son of Jonah"? The reason was that Peter's mission and Jonah's mission were alike. Jonah, like Simon-Peter, was a Galilean. He was sent by God to the Gentile people of Nineveh, the capital city of the region's super-power, the Assyrian Empire, to tell them to repent and acknowledge the God of Israel. Simon-Peter the Galilean would go to Rome, the capital city of the region's superpower, the Roman Empire, to tell the Gentiles of the Roman world to repent and accept Jesus as Lord-God and Savior (see Jonah 1:1-2; Mt 16:17).
Do not miss the significance of Jesus changing Simon's name to Kepha = Rock, Petros in Greek. A change in the name of a servant of God signified a change in destiny, as in Hoshea's name change to Yehoshua/Joshua (Num 13:16). In the Old Testament, "rock" was a title for God and was used to describe Abraham as the physical father from whom the children of Israel "were hewn" (Is 51:1-2). However, "Rock" is not just an adjective used to describe Peter as the spiritual father of the New Covenant children of God. Jesus used the word as a personal name, signifying a change in Simon's destiny as the leader and foundation "rock" of Jesus's earthly Kingdom of the Church (CCC 881). The Greek text uses the word ekklesia to define Jesus's assembly of believers. It is a word that in English is best translated as "Church" and expresses the same meaning as the Hebrew word for the assembly of the chosen people of Israel who were the kahal, the "called out" ones, meaning those called out of the world and into covenant with Yahweh at Mt. Sinai.
and the gates of the netherworld [Hades] shall not
prevail against it.
Hades is the Greek word for the abode of the dead (in Hebrew,
Sheol) and NOT the hell of the damned. The Jews thought of the realm of the
dead as a walled city with imprisoned inhabitants. In this statement, Jesus
promises that the power of death will not overcome His Church; instead, the
Church of His heavenly kingdom will overcome death!
19 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.
Peter received three spiritual gifts in Jesus's blessing in
verses 17-19: the gifts of divine insight, power, and authority. Jesus gave Peter
the authority to forgive or retain sins (thus controlling the entrance into the
heavenly kingdom), as Jesus commissioned him as the leader of the Apostles and
the entire community of believers that became the New Covenant Church.
Jesus elevated Simon-Peter above his fellow Apostles as the chief minister of Jesus's ministers and the Vicar of His Kingdom. All the Vicars of Christ who came after Peter perpetuated his office in the same way as the office of the vicars/prime ministers who served the Davidic kings of Judah. Isaiah 22:20-25 described the functions and authority of one such Davidic vicar named Eliakim:
In the same way, Jesus now called Peter to serve as the Vicar of Christ the King and have authority over His Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the Church, which is the "household/family of Christ. Jesus was giving Peter the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" in his official elevation to the office of Vicar of Christ's Kingdom and the shepherd of the whole flock of Jesus's New Covenant people (also see Jn 21:15-17; CCC 553). Peter's office and the pastoral office of the other Apostles as Christ's other ministers form an apostolic college that belongs to the foundation of the Church. These are offices founded by Christ that continue in the primacy of the Pope and the universal Magisterium of the bishops (CCC 869, 880-81).
The responsibilities of Peter's high office are passed down to Christ's Vicars who have succeeded him:
The difference between the office of the vicars of the Davidic kings and Peter's office is that Peter's authority is both temporal and spiritual, and unlike the Davidic Vicar in Isaiah 22:22, Peter receives the "keys" plural. The two keys refer to Peter's power to "bind and loose" sins, controlling access to the Kingdom of Heaven. One key will release men and women from the gates of death in Sheol/Hades/Purgatory, and the other provides entry into Heaven gates.
19b Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Jesus would repeat the authority to "bind and loose" to
Peter and the college of Apostles (Mt 18:18). And He would reaffirm this power
after His Resurrection when Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
and told them: "Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, so I send
you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins
you retain are retained" (Jn 20:21-23).
In CCC 553 and 1441-45, the Catechism of the Church defines the authority Jesus gave Peter and the Apostles and their successors, using the metaphors of binding and loosing. Christ's Vicar and the Magisterium continue exercising this power and authority:
St. Peter's acknowledgment of Jesuss' divine Sonship became the confession of apostolic faith revealed by God, first spoken by Peter, repeated by the Apostles and disciples, and by the faithful across the world in every Christian generation. This confession of faith brings to fulfillment God's promise to Abraham to bless all nations (Gen 22:18; Gen 3:26-29; 6:16). It is on the solid foundation of this faith confessed by Peter that Christ built His Church as humanity's vehicle of salvation (CCC 424). Each of us must have the courage to answer Jesus's question: "Who do YOU say that I am" by making Peter's profession of faith our own. It must not be a confession of faith that we make only with our voices but also with our lives. Just as St. Paul described his discipleship as a sacrificial offering (Second Reading), our commitment to Jesus Christ must be a libation of love for the sake of our Savior and His Kingdom of the Church (2 Tim 2:4; Rom 12:1).
Endnotes:
1. Eusebius, Church History, 2.25.8 quoting
the passage about the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul by Bishop Dionysius of
Corinth in his letter to Pope Soter, Bishop of Rome (c. 166/174).
2. Bishop Eusebius' 4th century Church history records that St. Peter came to Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius, who ruled from AD 41-54 (Church History, 2.14.6). St. Jerome records St. Peter served as Bishop of Rome for 25 years before his martyrdom (De Viris Illustribus, 100.1).
3. New Jerusalem Bible Study Edition, page 1637, footnote "f."
Catechism References (*indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Acts 12:5 (CCC 2636*);
12:6-11 (CCC 334*-336)
Psalm 34:3 (CCC 716*); 34:8 (CCC 336*)
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 (CCC 2015); 4:1 (CCC 679)
Matthew 16:16 (CCC 424, 442); 16:17 (CCC 153, 442); 16:18-19 (CCC 881*); 16:18 (CCC 424*, 442, 552, 586*, 869*); 16:19 (CCC 553, 1444)
St. Peter:
Faith in Christ (CCC 153*, 424*, 440*, 442*)
Head of the Apostles (CCC 552*, 765*, 880*, 881*)
The Pope is Peter's successor (CCC 882*, 883)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2022 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.