The steward of the King in the prophet Isaiah bears a similar office. He wears an official robe and sash conferring the dignity of his office and on the sash are the keys to the kingdom. The steward has the keys to the palace, the keys to the city gate, the keys to the treasury, the keys to the armory, the keys to the prison, the keys to the kingdom. Whatever he opens is open. Whatever he binds is bound. Jesus' disciples would have understood perfectly his reference back to Isaiah 22 and would have understood clearly that he was making Peter the Steward of his Kingdom, the Viceroy, Prime Minister Peter.
The steward holds the power and authority of the monarch and exercises that authority in his absence and by his specific delegation. The Old Testament passage also indicates that this is not simply a position of power and prestige, but the steward is to be known as "the Father of the inhabitants of Jerusalem." Jerusalem is the holy city, and as the Hebrew monarch was also the head of the religion, the steward would also have played a religious role and, if you like, could be called, "Holy Father."
The interesting thing in both passages is that this authority is divinely given. It is not a human invention. The prophet Isaiah says the Lord will put down Shebna and raise up Eliakim to bear the authority of the King. In the gospel, Prime Minister Peter's authority is based on his confession of Jesus Christ as the Anointed Son of God, and Jesus recognizes that this inspiration and insight was given to Peter by God. It was not just a good idea or a theory or a human invention.
Protestants say that churches are man made institutions. We have to agree with them. Their churches are man made. The Catholic Church, however, claims something far more stupendous and wonderful--that she is not a man made institution. The Catholic Church is not only established on the Rock of Peter by Jesus Christ himself, but it has divine origins in that the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to recognize the Christ. He was also inspired to pick up this role and be the key preacher at Pentecost and the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of God.
Unfortunately too many Catholics forget the divine origin of the Catholic Church and fall into Protestant speak. So they say of the church's dogma or moral teachings, "Yeah, well, those are just man made rules." Are they? The church does distinguish between matters of church discipline which are man made rules. These can be dispensed by the proper authority. However, the dogmas of the church and the moral teaching of the church are not man made, and Catholics don't really have the liberty to pick and choose which they like.
Instead we remember that the church is founded on Prime Minister Peter. The role is a successive one, and his successor lives today just a few hundred yards from where Peter himself was martyred and buried, and you can see him there exercising his role as steward of the faith and steward of the mysteries of God.
His name isn't Peter this time. It is our Holy Father Benedict.
Superb, Father! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteYes.
ReplyDeleteHe actually has no power until he takes a car to Buckingham Palace and meets the Queen in person and she personally and formally delegates her authority to him.
ReplyDeleteWell, he theoretically has no power until the British queen delegates her authority to him. The idea that his practical authority comes from her action, and not from the popular vote just concluded, probably no longer applies. (As an aside, she is not simply "the Queen", at least in these parts.) Surely the British example could work no later than the English Civil War.
As for the authority being divinely given, we know from Matthew 28:18 that all real belongs ultimately to Jesus.
Thank you for this beautiful homily on the reading for today. I wish I had read this last week when a protestant friend challenged the claim the catholic church makes about Jesus appointing Peter as the head of the first church. I'm a convert to Catholicism and could not show him in the bible where Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom. How do Protestants dispute those passages if they are truly sola scriptura?
ReplyDeleteProtestant speak is too common in all our religious discussions. One common statement that makes my teeth itch is "We believe 95% of the same things!" Maybe so, but THIS (and Mary, and Purgatory, and Confession and the Communion of Saints and ...)are places where Protestants and Catholics most certainly do NOT believe the same things and we should not be shy about saying so. Thanks for pointing out that the Church founded by Christ is a different body indeed from the local Protestant ecclesial community around the corner.
ReplyDeletesherrybella, you might find the Bible Christian Society a present help in your time of need. John Martignoni specializes in providing two minute apologetics on the various hangups Protestants are taught to have with Catholicism.
ReplyDeleteDwight, your analysis misreads (deliberately, I might add) the entire thrust of the passage. Why does Isaiah announce that God will take the keys from Shebna and give them to Eliakim? Because of Shebna's self-seeking, corruption and derelection of duty.
ReplyDeleteThe Catholic Church is the same way, whether you wish to admit it or not. It has become pervasively corrupt, self-seeking, materialistic, hypocritical, arrogant and entitled. It has used its power to puff itself up instead of to serve God and His people.
Verse 25, is especially appropriate:
“The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Look around you, Dwight. What do you see? You see a Church that is beset by conflicts over liturgy, clericalism, sexual misbehavior and backbiting (just look at the reaction to Voris and Corapi). God is judging His faithless Church and will place the "keys" that He gave it in someone else's hand.
That someone could be Jesus Himself, the Incorruptable. Or, it might have happened 500 years ago in Central Europe.
Think carefully, Dwight, before you besmerch revelation for your own purposes.
Joseph D'Hippolito,
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at the Church today, I see it as Jesus' "Immaculate Bride". But, as always, it is made up of humans, who are sinful, as humanity has been from the beginning. While human nature hasn't changed one iota since we were created, God has redeemed us all if we freely choose to accept His sacrifice.
The instrument for all redemption is the Catholic Church. No other contains the Gospel of Christ in its entirety.
All(and I do mean ALL), Protestant churches have "picked and chosen" what they will believe as it suits them. Why are there over 27,000 different Protestant sects in the world. Jesus prayed:
"...Holy Father,protect them in your name that they may be ONE [capitols mine], as we are one." John 17:11
He was praying for his diciples who became the leaders of His church.
I was raised a Catholic in the 70's and 80's. I rebelled against what I thought the church was instead of learning what it actually is and always has been: the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic and founded by Christ himself! (Mt 28:18-20, Jn 20-23, ! Cor 11:23-24, Lk 10:16, Mt 18:17-18).
I find your comment reflects that "cafeteria" mentality and condemns the Catholic Church because it is made up of people (as well as with God and all in Heaven).
I, personally know many, many holy priests, and am awe-filled at the steadfastness of the institution, in spite of the many sins of it's members. In recent years we have been blessed by the leadership of very holy and extraordinary men in the papacy and other levels of the heirarchy of authority in the Church. Jesus did not require that his followers be perfect in order to be redeemed, but that they LOVE him.
Could you please point out to me a church that does not consist of sinners or is led by sinners.
The Catholic Church is alive, vibrant, and still (as always) protected from doctrinal error by the Holy Spirit; as Christ said it would be. Once again, He did NOT, say that his diciples would never sin. In fact, he gave THEM the authority to forgive sins as previously, only He had authority to do (Mt 28:18-20).
Jopseph D'Hippolito,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to define what I mean by "Gospel" in the 2nd paragraph.
I mean (as the Church teaches and has always taught) that the Gospel of Christ consists of both the Bible and the Tradition of the Church. BTW, nowhere in Scripture is the doctrine of "Sola Scriptura" found). Quite the opposite (1Cor 11:2,2 Thess 2:15 and 3:6, Jn 21:25,Mk 13:31, Acts20:35, 2 Tim 1:13, 2 Tim 2:2, etc.).
Alli R that was well said. Thank you for such an elegant answer.
ReplyDeleteAlli R, your response reflects the standard, cliched boilerplate that Catholics use to defend the hierarchy's and clergy's mistakes. Of course, any institution composed of human beings will contain sinners.
ReplyDeleteBut the Catholic Church is not just any institution, if its claims are correct. It "proclaims the fullness of the Gospel" and maintains the "apostolic succession." As such, its leaders and members have a far greater responsibility to obey Jesus' teachings. Jesus Himself said, "From those who have been given much, much will be expected."
But for far too long, the hierarchy has interpreted "apostolic succession" as license to pursue political power, wealth and secular prestige at the expense of its calling. For far too long, lay people like yourself have allowed them to do this because they have been brainwashed to believe that their bishops and priests are "different" and "better" than they are.
This isn't a matter of "sola scriptura" or "cafeteria" thinking. This is a matter of asking the Church to live up to its stated ethical principles and stated loyalty to God, instead of promoting a class structure and a sense of entitlement that has absolutely nothing to do with the Gospel.
Unfortunately, when a respected priest deliberately misquotes Scripture to promote his own agenda -- and nobody bothers to call him on it -- that says more about the Church's dismal state than anything I could write.