The Holy Father is Always the Successor of Peter

The Holy Father...is always

the successor of Peter



August 21 - XXI Sunday in Ordinary Time


The main item in today's liturgy is surely the Gospel where we have a fundamental statement from the lips of Christ about the identity of his shaky apostle and - in all subsequent centuries the identify of Peter's successors.


Matthew begins his Gospel with a list of the ancestors of Jesus while Luke brings them in at Chapter 3 and in both lists we read the name of Eliakim, one of the ancestors of Jesus. Eliakim, highlighted in the First Reading is mentioned twice in 2 Kings as an official of the king's palace and in Is. 22 he gets a significant promotion, is given the key to the house of David (an iron bar in that context ) is dressed elegantly and is even compared to a peg, the reference being to the peg or pegs that hold a tent in place. All this is a bit overwhelming when applied to Peter who is a distinctly loose peg at the human level but, in spite of that, is specially chosen by the Master to remain firm in the faith. And the conclusion has to be that the Church is founded on faith in Christ and not on any human ability.


The Responsorial Psalm,N/b> as usual, is a confirmation of the main message in the First Reading but is it not also a beautiful prayer for personal use?


We continue our extracts from Romans and in the Second Reading our Father, who has been reflecting all through the Letter on the problem of the Jews and their inability to see things as he sees them, now concludes with what he calls "a secret truth" involving salvation for the Gentiles but also in due course for the Jews. Stunned by this realization of the goodness of God and the depths of His wisdom, Paul bursts out in this impressive display of love and admiration.


The Gospel is fundamental, but not quite as simple as it is given here. There is no dispute about Peter's confession of faith but the reply of Christ is found only in today's extract from Matthew and not in the other Evangelists who confirm Peter's reply but do not mention the Lord's words in this context, although they have parallel statements in other parts of their Gospels. Other Christian groups are well aware of this difference and, even admitting that it is correct, they ask: does this promise apply also to Peter's successors? The Church responds by noting that the Lord changes Peter's name on this occasion (this practice is noted also in the Old Testament, e.g. Abraham and Abram) and this has considerable symbolism. As for his successors, why would it not apply and who would otherwise be the next Pope? History proves that after Peter's death there is no record of confusion in the ranks of his followers or of disputes about his successor (though there were disputes in much later centuries due to human weakness). Conclusion: the Holy Father is always the "successor of Peter" (as the present Pope describes himself rather than as "Vicar of Christ," a title used in the past).


~ August 2011 Concord