Union

“Peter, I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  (Matthew 16:19).

Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter (Perugino)

It is sometimes quite amazing to me that the Catholic Church exists in this day and age.

Obviously, this is not the oldest religion in the world.  Judaism is older – for example.  Buddhism and Hinduism are older religions also – much older than Catholicism.  And yet, to me the miracle of Catholicism is that it continues to exist under the same hierarchy that was originally established twenty centuries ago.

We have one leader of this universal Church.  And that leader is the descendent of Saint Peter the Apostle…

“Peter, I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  (Matthew 16:19).

And this is an important doctrine.  You see, we all love God.  And we all – as loving children of God – want to do what we think will best show God that we love Him.

When my children were very little, sometimes they would try to help me around the house.  At times this would mean that they could try to dust or vacuum or even mop the floor.  Perhaps there were times when they would want to pour me a cup of tea.  Now, these days my children can do all of these tasks and more.  But when they were very young, when they tried to help me with these tasks, they would often create more mess for me and I would have preferred it if they had not tried those things at all.  Perhaps instead of trying to make me a cup of tea and spilling tea everywhere and burning themselves, they could have packed away their toys, in trying to be helpful.

We Christians are a bit like my children when they were younger.  We are trying so hard in our own ways to make tea for God – for love of Him.  And in doing this, all we are really doing – sometimes – is making a bigger mess.  And that is why we are asked to be in union with the Pope.  The Pope’s role is to lead the Church.  When the Pope speaks ex cathedra he is infallible.

This is a very HUGE deal.  What this really means is that in certain very specific circumstances (and only when speaking of matters of faith and morals), we are entrusting the Holy Spirit to guide the Pope in such a way that we can trust what the Pope is saying under those circumstances. 

And this is how he can direct the “children” of the Church to do the things that will HELP rather than HINDER God.  The cups of tea might seem like a useful thing to do, but for a two-year old child, they are simply dangerous and their time could be spent elsewhere.  Again, for the most well-meaning and least-capable person, certain tasks or teachings might be beyond them.

And as I reflect on my children today, it seems to me that the Church is a miracle in itself.  How else could I explain twenty centuries of union and leadership under the descendants of Saint Peter when we are really all just children, trying to make a cup of tea, and burning everyone in the process…?

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.