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 (Mt 16:13-19)
READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the First Letter of Peter
1 Pt 5:1-4
Beloved:
I exhort the presbyters among you,
as a fellow presbyter and witness to the sufferings of Christ
and one who has a share in the glory to be revealed.
Tend the flock of God in your midst,
overseeing not by constraint but willingly,
as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly.
Do not lord it over those assigned to you,
but be examples to the flock.
And when the chief Shepherd is revealed,
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew
Mt 16:13-19
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
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.
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.”
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
The Word of God today declares to everyone what Jesus taught and prescribed that no one can change: “Simon son of Jonah. You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus placed Peter as the head rock of the Church, as Jesus’ representative to build the Church and to shepherd His flock. When Jesus ascends to heaven, the Church is the Church of Jesus, the Church of God of which He is the Head of the members. Even though He has returned to heaven, He is still present in the Church and gives the Holy Spirit.
This era is the era of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is fire, wind, and protector. He is always flexible in every place and at all times. He is not rigid. To be a solid foundation stone in a house, it must have surrounding bricks, stones, sand and pebble combined together. If there is only stone, it cannot become a house. Therefore, today is the day commemorating Jesus choosing Saint Peter as the Rock to remind everyone that: when there is a rock, there need to be surrounding bricks, stones, sand, and pebbles which are all members of the Church, united together to build a solid house of God.
How is the Church of God today? Is it broken or not? Is it gradually dividing, everyone wants to separate themselves to be the leader? That is Satan’s plan to attack God’s Church, to separate every sand, stone, brick, and pebbles that is part of the Church, from the Pope. God clearly sees Satan’s plan to gradually destroy the Church, destroy His work, and destroy every member of Him. Therefore, God wants to call everyone, all members of the Church from Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, Religious men and women and lay people. He wants them to unite with each other, with the leader of the Church, Pope Francis, to not separate but must carry out the commandments that God has given to its leader:
“Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19).
Today, God reminds us that His Word still exists and is still valid. However, has the Church lived up to God’s commandments, or is it getting further and further away from His Word? Today, have pastors taken care of their flocks following the example of Jesus? If not, then return to the identity of the Church, to the nature of the Church’s life which is holiness. Let’s return to the life of the first Christians by fasting, praying constantly, living in love, charity, self-sacrifice, humility, and fearing God alone. Live in the fruits of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). If you can live these things, then God’s commandments will be effective, and in heaven there will be unity with God’s shepherds: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” If they do not live up to God’s commandments, their commitments will not please God and will not be accepted by God.
Therefore, in this era, God has selected people to be part of the Army of Light of God. He invites His chosen people to fast and pray continuously, to live in love and forgiveness, to give up passions, to humble themselves, to love, obey and serve God to contribute to building the world to build the Church, united with the Church, united with Pope Francis, united with bishops and priests.
The Holy Spirit in this era is always flexible, always moving because the wind of the Holy Spirit always spreads everywhere in the Church, not just keeping the rigid traditional fasting law of the Church: fasting two days a year. So on other days, play freely, indulge, and waste money? But as God teaches, we must fast and pray continuously to defeat Satan, then the door to hell will be closed. Otherwise, Satan will spread throughout the world, invade the Church, attack God’s children, and separate the members of Jesus Christ.
That is why God chose the people He wanted and filled them with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that through these few people, the Holy Spirit continues to build and renew the Church. With the conditions that these people must live according to God’s instructions, to love and respect the Church, obey God above all things, fear Him and unite with His Church.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
