TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
27 AUGUST 2023
SOLEMNITY OF POPE SAINT PIUS X
Jesus
has fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. He has healed many people. He has become popular and has raised the
expectations of people looking for a messiah to a fever pitch. A politician or a military leader would have
used this popularity for his own advantage and whipped the crowd’s enthusiasm
into action. However, that is not what
Jesus does.
Jesus takes
his disciples to an isolated place away from the crowds. In front of a huge rock foundation with a
source of lush water believed to be the gate to the netherworld, he asks them
what the gossip is about him. Their
answers indicate that he is seen as the long-awaited messiah. So, he asks them who they think he is. Peter blurts out the correct answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.” Jesus affirms his answer. It is not a correct guess. His heavenly Father has revealed this truth
to him. Then Jesus calls Peter the
“Rock” and promises to build his Church on the foundation of Peter’s confession
of faith. He assures his disciples that
the powers of the netherworld will never prevail. He gives Peter the keys, the symbol of ultimate
authority. Then he orders his disciples
not to tell anyone about this.
The crowds
expect the messiah to be a military leader sent to expel the Romans who are
oppressing them. He would be a son of
David. But their expectations are
wrong. He is not just a descendent of
David. He is the incarnate Son of the
living God. His mission is not to
conquer the Romans. It is to conquer the
powers of evil and death by entering into death itself. Peter objects and tries to talk Jesus out of
this idea. It will take time for his
disciples to understand the true identity of Jesus and embrace his saving
mission. They will not understand fully
until after they experience the horror of his death and the joy of his
resurrection. Even Peter, the rock of
the Church, will fail. He will deny
knowing Jesus three times on the eve of his death.
Jesus asks
each one of us that same question today.
Who do we think he is? If we
agree with Peter’s answer, then we need to embrace him when things are going
well. We must keep our faith in him,
even in the midst of terrible tragedies and difficult times. He invites us to renew our faith in him as
members of his Body, the Church.
Sometimes our membership in the Church is life giving and hopeful. That is certainly true today as we celebrate
our patronal feast. At other times, we
struggle with our identity, especially when scandals in the Church cause us to
question. That can happen when religious
leaders behave like Shebna in the first reading. They have not been stewards of the Church,
but stewards of their own interests.
But Jesus
assures us that our Church will prevail.
No matter how many evils may press upon us, the Church will eventually
overcome. His promise is grounded on
Peter’s profession of faith. He entrusted
the keys to Peter, who would fail and sometimes be a stumbling block.
Today, we
celebrate the feast of one of Peter’s successors, Pope Saint Pius X. Born in northern Italy as Giuseppe Sarto, he
was the oldest of eight living children in a very poor family. As a priest and later as bishop and finally
as Pope, he always maintained a humility that enabled him to serve the poor and
work for social justice. As Pope, he encouraged
people to be more engaged at Mass and embrace liturgical music. He permitted children who had reached the age
of reason to receive the Lord in the Eucharist.
He was a faithful steward of Christ’s Church.
The theme
for his papacy was “to renew all things in Christ.” One hundred years later, we ask his
intercession as we continue to renew all things at Saint Pius. As we begin this year dedicated to the
Eucharist, we renew our faith in recognizing the real presence of the Lord in
the Eucharist and trusting that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail
against us.
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