The readings for this Sunday converge, or lead us to contemplate something existing and real, the readings take us to the Church. And I personally like to call the Church "Mother Church". Keys are given to Eliakim in Isaiah prefiguring the keys that would be given to Peter in Matthew, keys that are a sign that the Lord has entrusted the care of His people to the Church. And people should have respect and reverence for the Church. At the end of all the Church is the Bride of Christ: he died for her and left her as Guardian treasure of faith.
Among the things that surprised me when I came to this blessed country is one that continues to surprise me: the contempt that some people feel about the Catholic Church and its ministers, and the criticism so hard. Personally I have hard time understanding someone that says he or she loves Christ and yet despises His wife. I can understand. If someone calls me stupid for the mistakes I make in managing the parish, I really understand, and it is OK, but to criticize the Church as an institution and then say in the Profession of Faith “we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church”, I think is it a great lack of integrity…
[Anyway] We know who we are as Catholics. Our beliefs come from the teaching authority of the Church. The term we use for this is magisterium[1]. We don’t take a survey or census to see what we will believe this week, or this century. The dogmas of our faith may go through periods of definition, but they still remain the same. We believe now what was believed 100 years ago, 1000 years ago, a little under 2000 years ago on the First Pentecost.
Blessed John Henry Newman was an adamant Anglican and had considered the Roman Catholic Church England’s ancient enemy. But when he investigated into the continuity of the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, he could find it only in the Roman Catholic Church. This led to his embrace of Catholicism. If this fascinates you, I recommend you read his classic Apologia pro Vita Sua[2].
The way we live our lives, our morality, flows from our faith. We know that we can’t give lip service to the faith and live as pagans. We also know that we our human beings. We need the help of God to be His Presence for others. The Church provides for us. We treasure the gift of the Eucharist as the food we need for the journey of life. We treasure the sacrament of reconciliation, confession, where we bring our humanity before the Lord seeking the strength to overcome evil around us and within us. Every aspect of our lives revolves around the Lord, including our last days as we receive the sacrament of sick and begin our journey home.
The Catholic Church is the oldest and largest organized body in the world. We have a history. Those who hate us love pointing out the negative incidents in our history. And it is true, some of our history is dark, or very dark as some human beings throughout the centuries behaved more like pagans than Christians, however the vast majority of people took their faith seriously. Every century the Church points out saints as models for our lives. And all of us have been edified by people whom we know will never be canonized but whose lives pointed us to Christ. Right now I am thinking, for example, Pat Belko, whom passed away few days ago, or Grace Combs, another great parishioner whom also die recently…
The point is, today, in our attitude towards the Church. I love the Church with all my strength? I love the Church with its flaws and its dark areas? I defend the Church against the attacks or am I a coward who is silent?
Keys were given to Peter. Jesus gave him these keys. The Church opens the gates of eternity to all people of good will. We are the Church. We are the Body of the Christ. We are Catholic. Today with the celebration of the Eucharist, the greatest treasure of our mother the Church, we thank God for the Gift of His Church ■
[1] In the Catholic Church the Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church. This authority is understood to be embodied in the episcopacy, which is the aggregation of the current bishops of the Church in union with the Pope, led by the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), who has authority over the bishops, individually and as a body, as well as over each and every Catholic directly. According to Catholic doctrine, the Magisterium is able to teach or interpret the truths of the Faith, and it does so either non-infallibly or infallibly. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him”. The word magisterium is derived from Latin magister, which originally meant the office of a president, chief, director, superintendent, etc. (in particular, though rarely, the office of tutor or instructor of youth, tutorship, guardianship) or teaching, instruction, advice.
[2] Originally an evangelical Oxford academic and priest in the Church of England, Newman was a leader in the Oxford Movement. This influential grouping of Anglicans wished to return the Church of England to many Catholic beliefs and forms of worship traditional in the medieval times to restore ritual expression. In 1845 Newman left the Church of England and was received into the Roman Catholic Church where he was eventually granted the rank of cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland, which evolved into University College, Dublin, today, and the largest university in Ireland. Newman's beatification was officially proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 September 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom.
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