Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

For: Monday, June 29, 2009

Solemnity: St Peter and St Paul, Apostles

From: Matthew 16:13-19

Peter's Profession of Faith and His Primacy
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[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His
disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?"  [14] And they said, "Some
say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
[15] He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  [16] Simon Peter replied,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  [17] And Jesus answered him,
"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but My Father who is in Heaven.  [18] And I tell you, you are Peter, and on
this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against
it.  [19] I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind
on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be
loosed in Heaven."

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Commentary:

13-20. In this passage St. Peter is promised primacy over the whole Church, a
primacy which Jesus will confer on him after His Resurrection, as we learn in the
Gospel of St. John (cf. John 21:15-18).  This supreme authority is given to Peter
for the benefit of the Church.  Because the Church has to last until the end of time,
this authority will be passed on to Peter's successors down through history.  The
Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is the successor of Peter.

The solemn Magisterium of the Church, in the First Vatican Council, defined the
doctrine of the primacy of Peter and his successors in these terms: "We teach
and declare, therefore, according to the testimony of the Gospel that the primacy
of jurisdiction over the whole Church was immediately and directly promised to
and conferred upon the blessed Apostle Peter by Christ the Lord.  For to Simon,
Christ had said, `You shall be called Cephas' (John 1:42).  Then, after Simon had
acknowledged Christ with the confession, `You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God' (Matthew 16:16), it was to Simon alone that the solemn words were spoken
by the Lord:  `Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona.  For flesh and blood has not re-
vealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of Hell shall not prevail
against it.  I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and what you loose on earth shall be
loosed in Heaven' (Matthew 16:17-19).  And after His Resurrection, Jesus con-
ferred upon Simon Peter alone the jurisdiction of supreme shepherd and ruler over
\His whole fold with the words, `Feed My lambs....Feed My sheep' (John 21:15-17)
[...]

"Now, what Christ the Lord, Supreme Shepherd and watchful guardian of the flock,
established in the person of the blessed Apostle Peter for the perpetual safety and
everlasting good of the Church must, by the will of the same, endure without inter-
ruption in the Church which was founded on the rock and which will remain firm until
the end of the world.  Indeed, `no one doubts, in fact it is obvious to all ages, that
the holy and most blessed Peter, Prince and head of the Apostles, the pillar of faith,
and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and the Redeemer of the human race; and even
to this time and forever he lives,' and governs, `and exercises judgment in his suc-
cessors' (cf. Council of Ephesus), the bishops of the holy Roman See, which he
established and consecrated with his blood.  Therefore, whoever succeeds Peter
in this Chair holds Peter's primacy over the whole Church according to the plan of
Christ Himself [...].  For this reason, `because of its greater sovereignty,' it was
always `necessary for every church, that is, the faithful who are everywhere, to be
in agreement' with the same Roman Church [...]

"We think it extremely necessary to assert solemnly the prerogative which the
only-begotten Son of God deigned to join to the highest pastoral office.  "And so,
faithfully keeping to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith,
for the glory of God our Savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and for the
salvation of Christian peoples, We, with the approval of the sacred council, teach
and define that it is a divinely revealed dogma: that the Roman Pontiff, when he
speaks "ex cathedra", that is, when, acting in the office of shepherd and teacher
of all Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, doctrine
concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, possesses through
the divine assistance promised to him in the person of St. Peter, the infallibility with
which the divine Redeemer willed His Church to be endowed in defining doctrine
concerning faith or morals; and that such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are there-
fore irreformable because of their nature, but not because of the agreement of the
Church.

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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries".  Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.  We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."  --  St Jerome

"The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever
in everlasting silence: and in silence the soul has to hear it.
   --  St John of the Cross