Is the office of the papacy a treasure to be loved, put in place by Christ himself, or a wicked power to be resisted? Learn about the founding and function of papal authority how to respond to a papal office so often filled by flawed men. This homily was given by Father Mayer on February 20, 2022.
Is the office of the papacy a treasure to be loved, put in place by Christ himself, or a wicked power to be resisted? Learn about the founding and function of papal authority how to respond to a papal office so often filled by flawed men. This homily was given by Father Mayer on February 20, 2022.
Within the ranks of our Protestant brothers and sisters, there have been a proliferation of new denominations breaking away from others and forming. Most recently, these denominations have been breaking into smaller and smaller pieces, in what has become known as the non-denominational movement. All of these protestant churches would say that they have a unity under Christ, but they would define this as an invisible unity because there is no visible structural or institutional unity, rather there are some beliefs that they do agree on, such as the centrality of the Bible and belief in the trinity, while there are other beliefs such as infant baptism and predestination and how the local church should be structured that they disagree upon. On the other hand, the Catholic Church holds to what we describe as a visible or complete unity – unity of canon or church law, unity of structure, unity of beliefs, unity of worship. It is a 2,000 year unity that is unparalleled by any institution or country in the world.
The secret to the unity is, interestingly, a chair. Yes, a chair. Sounds strange perhaps, but I am here to tell you that the secret to Catholic unity is what is known as the Chair of St. Peter, which is what we are celebrating today. We as members of the Ordiniariate are dedicated to that chair. We are the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. You can see the Chair of St. Peter, at least what is believed to be St. Peter’s Chair as it is preserved in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. It is a symbol of Papal authority, that is, the office of the pope. Chairs have often, historically been symbols of authority. Think of the throne of a king. Think of Jesus’ mention in Matthew 23 of the scribes and Pharisees who sit in the Seat of Moses. He was describing their authority. Traditionally, a Catholic Bishop has a cathedral. The word cathedra means seat. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop’s authority. Today, we celebrate the chair of St. Peter, and the special value that the authority of the Pope has to us as Catholics.
That chair, or that authority that Christ gave to Peter and the popes that would succeed him, is the secret to the unity that we have in the Catholic Church. You see for a group of people to have unity there must be someone or something who has legislative decision making authority.
- While Christ gave binding and loosing, that is legislative power, the authority to make decisions on behalf of the church, the Kingdom of God, to all twelve of the disciples, he gave it in a special way to Peter. He was the first one to whom Christ gave this authority. You also heard today in the gospel reading that he gave him the authority of the keys. Jesus was a Jewish king and so when he established his kingdom, he gave Peter the office of steward or the office of the keys. The Jewish way of structuring a kingdom was to have the king at the top, but then to appoint a steward who would oversee the day to day affairs of the kingdom. You can read about this system of governance being referred to in Isaiah 22, in which Isaiah refers to a one kingly steward being replaced by another who would be given a key to symbolize his authority.
- I heard one person compare the necessity of this office in the church to the Supreme Court here in the United States. The founders of our country knew that people would interpret the constitution in various different ways and that there needed to be an authoritative interpreting body in order to keep the United States united, so the founding fathers created the supreme court. So also, Christ, as he was setting up his kingdom, surely had as much and more wisdom than the founders of our nation, and so he put the papacy in place, the Chair of St. Peter, in order to assure that his teaching would be interpreted correctly, in order to assure unity within the Kingdom of God.
The Chair of St. Peter, that is the authority of the Pope, is the secret to Catholic unity, it is the source of a strong visible unity which we have in the Catholic Church, without which, the church would have fallen apart into multiple pieces, long ago.
Yet, the Chair of St. Peter even goes beyond human genius. In putting in place this authority structure, Christ foresaw the weakness of the men who would sit in that chair and he did something about it. He foresaw the sinfulness of the many popes who would rule or steward the Church from Peter’s throne and so he endowed that chair with supernatural protection, such that those who sat in the chair, no matter how sinful, could not lead the church into doctrinal error, meaning that they could not from the chair, officially teach and propagate falsehood.
- Remember what Jesus said to Peter. “Whatever you bind on earth, will be bound from heaven. Whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” He was saying to Peter, “Whatever you official, doctrinally implement as steward of my church, I will back you up with all of the power of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.”
- Now consider who he was saying this to. He was saying this to Peter, to a sinful, compulsive man who just a minute or two later, would take up the devil’s own work. Remember the story? Jesus was telling the disciples about his upcoming crucifixion and Peter rebukes Jesus and tells him that this will never happen. How does Jesus respond? He says to Peter “Get behind me Satan” Consider that he gave Peter this powerful position in the Church fully knowing that Peter would betray him, would deny him, would flee in fear during the crucifixion. He knew that all of Peter’s successors would likewise be sinful men who would also do the devils work from time to time. Pope John XII in the tenth century gave land to one of his mistresses, murdered several people, and he was finally killed by a man who caught him in bed with his wife. Pope Benedict IX in the eleventh century is remembered for selling the papacy. Pope Urban VI in the fourteenth century complained that he did not hear enough screaming when Cardinals who had conspired against him were tortured. And the list could go on!
- And yet, it was to Peter, and to these successors that he gave this supernatural power binding and loosing authority. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound from heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. The only way that he could have given this measure of power to these sinful men, even to wicked men, was to also give a supernatural protection along with that power to assure that in spite of being sinners, they would teach truth and not error, so that heaven could indeed back them up when they bound Catholics with the obligation to believe doctrines, that is official teachings of the Church. And the words of the Lord Jesus have come true. Never in the 2,000 year history of the Church has a Pope taught an errant doctrine.
It is for this reason, that we are so grateful for the Chair of St. Peter, because it is in this chair, it is in this authority that we can put unhesitating trust. That chair, that binding and loosing authority has the power of heaven behind it. The person sitting in the chair of Peter, no matter who sinful, or how faulty, is supernaturally protected from officially teaching error and it is for this reason that we are grateful.
Even more so, as a community that is part of the Ordiniariate of the Chair of St. Peter, we have a unique calling of loyalty, of unity with the Holy Father. The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, was formed with a mission of unity, united around this Chair, the chair of Peter. We have a job of evangelizing, of explaining what the Chair of St. Peter means.
- There is a grave temptation right now, to speak badly of our Holy Father, to speak badly of Pope Francis. This temptation is especially prominent here in the United States and in the English speaking world. It is here that the fiercest resistance to Pope Francis is found in news outlets, both written and on television and even in a number of priests, bishops and archbishops who herald this temptation as a holy obligation. Do not give in to this disrespect. This of course does not mean that you have to agree with everything that Our Holy Father says or does, but it does mean that just as children are required by the moral law to honor their parents, so we are required to honor and be respectful of Papa Francisco, Pope Francis, our spiritual father.
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “Respect toward parents fills the home with light and warmth.” May your speech concerning our Holy Father, fill our Church with light and warmth. If it does not fill it with light and warmth you might question what you are saying. Would you speak the way that you are speaking about Pope Francis about your own mother and father? St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians encouraging lowliness, meekness, patiently forbearing with one another in love, being eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. When you uphold Pope Francis with love and respect you are fostering that unity which is so essential to the Church.
- Fr. Zac Rodriguez, a priest of the diocese of Austin, shared that while he was a seminarian in Rome he was asked to serve as the papal book bearer for Pope Francis. Prior to the Mass he said that Pope Francis was his easy jubilant self, cracking jokes and the like and making everyone feel comfortable. Then the Master of Ceremonies told the seminarian that he was to also hold the book for the Holy Father so he could pray the vesting prayers. He was told not to say anything while the Holy Father put on his vestments. The seminarian said that once in the private sacristy with Pope Francis there was a change in a way that struck him. He said it was as if Pope Francis sank into himself, not as one taking off a mask, but rather as one holding the weight of the entire world on his shoulders, its hardships, its agony, and for one moment he could set that down. The seminarian said that as Pope Francis vested, he prayed with such reverence, with such intensity, that it was absolutely singular. That seminarian, now Fr. Zac Rodriguez said that this experience changed the way that he saw Pope Francis and how he prays for him, not just for the office, but for the man.
The much revered 19th century saint, Don Bosco said that "If you are with Pope you are with Christ himself. Therefore vow fidelity and love to him unto death." Don’t give in to the temptation to speak badly and disrespect our Holy Father. Love him and honor him. Pray for him. St. Ambrose, the famous fourth century bishop and teacher of the faith taught “Where Peter is, there is the church" He said "he who is not with the Pope is not with God, and who desires to be with God must be with the Pope.”
Today as we celebrate this solemnity, we celebrate as members of the Chair of St. Peter. We are grateful for this rock solid structure that Christ gave to the Church, this unity that we have because of the authority of the Chair of Peter. We love the Catholic Church, we love the structure, well crafted by Christ himself in spite of all the flaws of the men who have sat in that chair, we love the Chair of St. Peter. We love Pope Francis in spite of what some might see as his flaws and today we celebrate that love, and we celebrate our identity as a community of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.