Sunday 27th of August
“You are Peter and on this rock, I will build my Church.”
Matthew 16:13-20
When we pray the Nicene Creed at Mass, we profess that “I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.” All Christians believe in the Bible, but we are saying that as Catholics that we believe in the teachings of the Church, as well as in the Bible as the Word of God. We believe that our church is catholic, which means universal, and that the Pope teaches with authority. Jesus gave St Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven and we can trace the line of Popes back to St Peter the apostle.
Do we believe that we are standing on rock when we base our lives on our faith and on the church? We have seen how the Catholic church is made up of people of flesh and blood who have hurt others.
We could give up hope and leave the church, but Jesus tells us that our Father in heaven revealed truths to St Peter, and that He still works through people of faith today. Jesus, please help us to be rocks on which you can build your future church, as you built on St Peter and on all of the saints through the ages.