Gospel Reflection on Mathew 16:13-19

June 29, 2025

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

---

Chesterton once wrote that the church is like someone riding a unicycle. She lurches to the left and to the right, never falling, but managing to stay upright because of her forward motion. It's a great image of the Catholic Church, and today we celebrate two complementary individuals who contributed to keeping the church upright and moving forward, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. These two men, flawed, just as you and I are flawed, became two of the greatest saints in the church. The church is not perfect.

She's always being tugged by different voices and forces. Paul represents the centrifugal forces that pull the church out to the fringes, to listen and learn from the marginal. Peter represents the centripetal forces that pull the community inward to the center, preventing her from fragmenting. And, you know, it's not just Paul or Peter or each one of us as individuals who feels this tension. The same experience has been in the church from the very beginning.

There have been factions, disputes, divisions, scandals through the centuries and even in our own time. To try to serve others is to be caught up in many tensions. How can we remain people of hope without losing our way? Here are some guidelines.

Learn to walk on the tightrope. Stand up with the marginalized even as you're known for your sanity and capacity to relate warmly to everyone. Lead without losing touch with your home. Be led by the artist, but listen always to the street. Don't be afraid to smash idols, but don't be afraid to kneel down to pray. Often, pious people aren't caring enough, and caring people aren't pious.

Learn to be both. One doesn't work without the other. Great hearts hold contradictory principles. Lesser ones do not. Be equally committed to social justice and to intimacy with Christ.

Today, we celebrate two men who knew what it meant to live in those tensions, to live like the one who called them, Jesus the Lord. We celebrate the faithfulness of these two men, sinners like all of us. Initially, they were both found wanting. They both fell short. But when they repented, they were forgiven by God and by the church.

Though they were victims of persecution, their commitment to Christ and to the church made them heroes. It was true in their time and it is true in ours as well. As long as we learn to walk that tightrope and keep our forward motion.