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.”
Why is Peter the head of the Church? The “Rock” of the Church? What is his power or authority over the Church? Is it because he is a powerful leader? What is the basis of the Pope’s power. Joseph Stalin famously said of the Pope, dismissing him, saying, “How many (military) divisions does the Pope have?” Yet, Stalin is long gone. The Soviet Union is gone. Meanwhile, the Pope still serves. He is still the leader of the largest organization in the World, after 2,000 years. Stalin spoke for the world and worldly powers. The Pope’s power is in his “Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” that every Pope controls. Jesus promised,
… you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
No worldly power can prevail against the Church. There is currently a threat from ISIS, the jihadists, to attack the Vatican and the Pope. They can hurt the Church. They cannot prevail.
The primacy of Peter, the authority of our Popes, cannot be seen in worldly strength or civil power. Peter was not a military or political leader. Peter’s strength is in his faith in Jesus as the Christ.
Jesus asked Peter and the apostles,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter responded to Jesus,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter’s strength was in his faith. Peter’s leadership was in his faith. For 2,000 years, the leadership of our Popes has been their faith; Not in their authority over armies. The Pope’s leadership has been a leadership of Faith.
What authority does Peter have? The most important authority Peter and his successors have is the power over sin. This is the power to “loose or bind” sin. This is the power of the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. This power extends to all the Church, united with Peter, the Apostles and their successors and those they appoint to serve, Bishops and Priests.
How do we experience this power to loose or bind? We experience the power to bind or loose in many, many ways through the Church.
Of course, we experience the forgiveness of sins in the Confessional. Protestants have eliminated this sacrament from their teachings, even though this is clearly in scripture as coming from Jesus Christ.
Another sacrament for “binding or loosing” is Anointing of the Sick with Holy Oil. Again, this is clearly from scripture, and Jesus told his disciples to anoint the sick. St James tells us anointing also forgives sins. Again, the Protestants do not teach this sacrament.
The Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are other forms of “loosing and binding” into the Church. They both involve forgiveness of sins and being permanently bound to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Loosing or binding also involves the sacrament of marriage and Holy Orders. We are brought into our sacramental states in life through the Church.
The Holy Eucharist also binds us more closely to Jesus. Jesus says to us in every Mass,
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the chalice of my Blood, …
. . .
which will be poured out for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.… For the forgiveness of sins….
Our sacramental life in the Church binds us more closely to Jesus and looses us from sin and assures us of eternal live with Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven.
This all comes to us because of Peter’s profession of his …faith. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter’s strength was in his faith. Peter’s leadership was in faith. We bind ourselves to Peter, the Church and to Jesus by joining with Peter to say,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Don’t miss Mass. Receive Holy Communion every chance you get. And, when you “fall off the bicycle”, get back into the Confessional. This is the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.