WE ARE THE ROCK ON WHICH JESUS BUILT HIS CHURCH
“Jesus asked his disciples, ‘But who do you say that I am?’
Simon Peter said in reply,
‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’
Jesus said to him in reply,
‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church. . . .
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.’” Matthew 16: 13-18
What I like most about this reading is this verse: “You are Peter, and upon the rock I will build my church.” I like it because what it conjures up is a picture of a church built, not on a rock, but on a person – Jesus picked Peter – and you and me – who, like Peter, are made of flesh, with minds and hearts that doubt and fear, and sometimes make wrong decisions, but who strive earnestly to show by our lives and our words that we – again, like Peter – are trying to listen to God and let God’s words and ways permeate our minds, hearts and bodies, and flow forth from us into the people and the world of today and tomorrow.
WE ARE THE ROCK ON WHICH JESUS BUILT HIS CHURCH
How are we to become these “rocks” on which foundation Christ’s Church is built? We become them to the extent that we allow Jesus to form us, just as he formed Peter and James, John, Matthew, Martha, Mary and Mary Magdaline – by watching Jesus and the disciples around us, by letting them accompany us in our daily lives. This is how we can learn, individually and collectively how to be God’s Church, built with each of us linked together as rocks of faith in Jesus, our Lord.
Here are two suggestions that may help us grow into being better disciples of Jesus:
- Daily readings from the Gospels. The Gospels give the best description of the interactions between Jesus and his disciples. Read them daily, listen to Jesus as he trains his disciples and is training you and me now.
The Church in her wisdom has created three cyclic years of daily and Sunday readings, including Gospel passages. Catholics all over the world, – Pope Francis and the Catholics in Rome, those on every single continent and those right here at St. Michael’s– gather each and every day to listen to these passages, ponder them and pray that we, all of us, may allow God through Jesus to form us into the rocks that say with Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Join us in Spirit, even if you cannot be there during the week. Most weekday Masses at St. Michael’s are available on our website and Facebook page.)
- Identify people around you who are striving, like Peter, to be a Rock of Faith in Jesus: See such disciples of today as your companions. Who are the disciples that you admire for striving to be stronger and stronger rocks of Christ’s Church? Watch them. Let them inspire you to be a better rock of faith in Christ. Together we are building this Church by the living of our everyday lives. We are the Church God is building, not on a rock, but on a person – Jesus – who then picked Peter, you and me, people who, like Peter, are made of flesh, with minds and hearts that doubt and fear, and sometimes make wrong decisions, but who are striving earnestly to show by our lives and our words that we are Christ’s Church.
Yes, let us – again and again, like Peter – listen to Jesus, watch our companion disciples and let God’s words and ways permeate the buffer that makes our minds, hearts and bodies focus on lesser matters. Let us form the Church whose graces flow forth from us into the lives of the people and world of today and of tomorrow.
Sister Loretta
- Suggested Reading: The Liturgical Year: Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life on our website. Also, link to or sign up to have the Liturgical Readings of the day emailed to you by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. (Scroll down to then bottom of the page.)