Sunday, June 29, 2008

St. Peter and St. Paul

Have you ever been to the desert?  Even if you haven't, you'd recognize it the first time you went there.  For one thing, it's hot.  Sometimes it gets cold at night, but for the most part, if you're in the desert you're going to be hot.  The other thing that's a pretty good sign you're in the desert is sand.  There's lots of sand in the desert.  There are also some rocks, but it's mostly sand.  So if you ever wind up in the desert, you'll probably recognize it.

Jesus lived in the desert, so he knew a lot about being hot and he knew a lot about sand.  Just a few Sundays ago Jesus spoke to us about sand.  In the 7th chapter of Matthew's Gospel He said that everyone who hears His words and doesn't act on them is like a fool who built his house on sand.  When the rains came and the wind blew, the house collapsed and was completely ruined.  Of course he was really talking about our faith and how it should be built on rock and not on sand.  He was telling us to do the will of God.

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.  These two men are definitely rocks of the faith.  You could say that St. Paul represents the rock of scripture.  Nearly every Sunday of the year he speaks to us in the liturgy of the word.  Much of what we know about our faith comes to us from St. Paul.

On the other hand, St. Peter represents the rock that is the Church.  We know that because Jesus said so.  "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church."  Of course we know that Peter's name was actually Simon and that Jesus changed his name to Peter, which means "rock".

You may be thinking, "So what, Deacon?  He changed Simon's name to rock.  What does that prove?"

That's a good question.  But take a look at the whole passage.  Jesus asked all the Apostles, not just Peter, "Who do you say that I am?"  Before anyone else has a chance to say anything, Simon jumps in and says "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 

Picture yourself back in school.  For some of us that's quite a stretch.  For others, not so much.  Anyway, picture yourself in class and the teacher asks a particularly hard question.  Suddenly the slow kid, the one everybody makes fun of shoots his hand up in the air!  "Me, teacher.  Call on me."  Since he's never raised his hand in class in his entire life, the teacher calls on him.  And he knows the answer!!!  The slow kid gets it right!  That's how the other Apostles must have felt when Simon came up with the right answer.

And what does Jesus say?  "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah.  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Heavenly Father."  In other words, Peter has received a gift that the other Apostles haven't; the knowledge, revealed by God, that Jesus is the Christ.

Then He calls him Peter and says that He will build His Church on him.

Remember, this is the same Simon who cut off the centurion's ear.  This is the same Simon who almost drowned because he didn't have enough faith to believe that Jesus would keep him from sinking into the water.  This was the same Simon who Jesus once told, "Get thee behind me Satan!  You are an obstacle to me."-----the same Simon who denied Jesus three times.

Now Jesus is telling him that he's the rock on which He will build His Church.  He's been given the gift of Papal infallibility. 

In the twenty-first chapter of John's Gospel (In tonight's Gospel) after His resurrection, Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him.  Peter answers that he does and Jesus tells him, "Feed my lambs."  Jesus asks him again and again Peter says "yes".  Jesus says to him, "Tend my sheep".

Jesus asks Peter a third time, "Do you love me?"  By now Peter's getting a little annoyed and says, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."   We know that Jesus asking the question three times represents Peter's three denials of the Lord, but we don't really know if Peter has made the connection or not.  Remember, he was never the sharpest chisel in the tool box. 

Anyway, Jesus says to Peter, "Feed my sheep."

Jesus was the good shepherd.  The Gospels are full of references to Him as the Shepherd and us as the sheep.  For Jesus to tell Peter, "Feed my lambs." "Tend my sheep." "Feed my sheep."  That was serious stuff.  He wanted everyone to know that He was leaving Peter in charge.

Sand wasn't the only thing that Jesus knew a lot about.  He also knew a lot about us.  He knew He would be returning to His Heavenly Father and that we couldn't fend for ourselves.  Like any good shepherd that has to go away for a while, Jesus made sure there would be someone in charge until He came back.  So He left us an advocate in the Holy Spirit and He left us a Shepherd in Peter and in his successors.  He left us His Church.

We know what Jesus said to Peter, but how do we know that Jesus meant for the authority to continue on down the line of future Popes all the way to Benedict XVI?  He didn't say that, did he?  No, He didn't say it specifically.  But what shepherd would go away and leave his sheep in the charge of someone who wouldn't be there until He returned?  Jesus knew He wouldn't be back in a single lifetime, or ten lifetimes, or even a hundred.  He left us in the hands of Peter and his successors.  It couldn't be any other way.

So why did Jesus use the rock analogy.  Why not something else?

In Jesus' time, rock was the most substantial thing they knew.  He wasn't talking about small rocks, He was talking about big, gigantic rocks.  Remember the whole "You are rock" conversation took place at Caesaria Phillipi.  If Caesaria Phillipi wasn't the biggest rock in the entire Holy Land, it was close.  That was the backdrop for the scene.  That was the kind of rock Jesus was talking about. 

But why Peter?  Why not James or John or even Simon's brother Andrew.?   Like I said earlier, Simon Peter wasn't the sharpest tool in the tool box.  He was a fisherman, and apparently not a very successful one at that.  With all due respect, I picture Simon as the Apostle who would fall asleep and the other Apostles would tie his sandal straps together.  The one with the "kick me" sign on the back of his robe. 

Now Simon isn't just a rock.  He's the rock.  Why did Jesus choose him

I think I have an idea.  Look at today's other saint, St. Paul.  Like Simon,  Jesus changed Paul's name from Saul.  No one had persecuted the new Church like Saul had.  He didn't just persecute the new Christians, he killed them.  He was even responsible for stoning the first deacon, Steven, to death.  Why would Jesus choose such a man to be the author of so much of the New Testament?

I think Jesus wanted to show us that He could draw straight with crooked lines.  Even the worst sinner could become a saint.  With Jesus, nothing is impossible.  If the evil Saul could become the Apostle to the gentiles, if Simon could become the rock on which Jesus would build His Church, how much hope does that give you and me? 

The answer is that it gives us all the hope in the world, IF we build our faith on the foundation of the Church--the Church that's rock solid.  But to do that, we have to build our faith on the whole rock, not just the part of the rock that we choose.  If you believe in "one holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church", the Church that was built on the rock called Peter and his God-given gift of the knowledge of Jesus Christ as God's Son, and all that that Church  teaches,  you're on solid ground.

But every time you decide that there's something you don't believe in, you chip away at that rock.  When you decide that the Church's teachings on  married love and the openness to God's gift of children don't apply to you, you chip away at the rock.  When you decide that some human life isn't worth protecting, you chip away at the rock.  When you decide that the Church should ordain women, you chip away at the rock.  When you decide that the Church has too many rules, you chip away at the rock.  The next thing you know, your house that was built on such a firm foundation is just sitting on sand.

If you think such a house can stand, take a look at the news from the last week.  Look at the houses built on the sandy flood plain in Missouri and Iowa.  They're ruined while the houses built on rock, on higher ground, they may be surrounded by the raging waters of the Mississippi, but when the waters recede, which they will, those houses will still be high and dry.

God gave us a great gift in His Church.  Jesus may have been THE Good Shepherd, but He left us with shepherds who are good to protect us from Satan and all his works.  Sadly, we all know people who think they can go it alone.  Like the sheep that wanders away from the flock, they don't think anything bad is going to happen to them.  And, for a while, they may be right.  But as surely as the wolf is going to find that wandering sheep, our transgressions are going to catch up with us. 
[pause]
I think most of us like to find ways to justify our particular short-comings.  Me, I'm captain procrastinator.  I always do things at the last minute.  But not this week.  My son and daughter-in-law are here this weekend from Alabama.  So instead of waiting until the (today) yesterday to put my homily together, I went way out of character and did it early.  So what happened?  Our Archbishop went and got himself promoted on Friday morning.  I should have waited until the last minute because you know I couldn't go without saying something about that, so here's some bonus homily for you.

I think most of us would agree that the Church often moves very slowly.  Vatican II ended in 1968 and we're still working on those changes.  Of course they're not substantial changes, remember the Church is built on rock, but after forty years we're still working on them. The permanent diaconate was restored in St. Louis in the '70s and there are still people who don't know who we are and what we do.   But one thing the Church doesn't do is let us go without a leader.  The Vatican announced yesterday (Friday) morning that Archbishop Burke was leaving St. Louis, effective immediately.  He'll be in St. Louis until some time in August, but he stopped being our Archbishop when the announcement was made.

It will be a while before a replacement is announced, but in the mean time, Bishop Herman will be in charge.  That announcement was made just hours after the announcement of Archbishop Burke's leaving.  It's part of that "rock" thing I've been talking about for the last few minutes.  People come and people go.  Popes, Bishops, priests, and even "permanent" deacons are all temporary.  But the Church goes on just like it has for 2,000 years and just like it will until the end.  Individual Catholics are all part of the Body of Christ, but like the thousands of skin cells we each lose every day, new ones take their place and the body remains unchanged.

Let us pray that Archbishop Burke will have great success in his new assigment and that the Holy Spirit will lead the Holy Father to choose a worthy shepherd for us here in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.




Friday, June 27, 2008

Archbishpo Burke to Leave St. Louis

It was announced today that Archbishop Raymond Burke will be leaving St. Louis soon to take the position of prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.  The appointment means that for the time being, St. Louis is without a bishop.  The college of consultors will meet in St. Louis this afternoon to choose an interim administrator who will be in charge until the Holy See appoints a replacement for Archbishop Burke.

I personally have very mixed emotions about this event.  On the one hand, St. Louis and the United States are losing an outspoken leader who has never failed to stand up for what is right, regardless of the personal  consequences.  He has gained a national reputation for being a staunch defender of the faith.  He will be missed.

On the other hand, this is an outstanding personal opportunity for Archbishop Burke to serve the Universal Church at the highest level.  He is the second American in recent months who has been appointed to a high Vatican office, showing that the Church does recognize the excellence of some of our American Church leaders.

It's no secret that the Archbishop has been treated poorly by the media in this town, and by many nominal Catholics.  In spite of that, he has expressed a fondness for St. Louis, acknowleging  the faith and loyalty of the majority of Catholics here. 

Time will tell whether his replacement will receive the same shoddy treatment from the local media that he has received.  I hope not.  But if the only way for our shepherd to be popular is to allow abuses in the parishes, heretical clergy, and fringe groups like "womenpriests" to operate here, then we should pray for another "unpopular" leader.

God bless Archbishop Burke as he begins his new assignment and may God be with our local church during this period of transition.