There are many people out there who do not understand the reason we Catholics have a Pope, or even what the role of the Pope is in the Catholic Church. If you want to truly understand it, then reading today’s readings for Mass will make it abundantly clear. Let’s begin by looking at the old testament reading to get an idea of what the Jewish audience would be familiar with. Remember, they were experiencing the things we have recorded in the new testament in real-time and understanding them from their own scriptures and teachings. Our first reading is from the book of Isaiah, written somewhere in the second century B.C. Isaiah is talking about how God will strip the current person of authority and give it to another:
On that day I will summon my servant
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah;
I will clothe him with your robe,
and gird him with your sash,
and give over to him your authority.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and to the house of Judah.
I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder;
when he opens, no one shall shut
when he shuts, no one shall open.
This verse here is absolutely key to understanding Catholic theology. Notice the particular wording used too. Eliakim would then be the Prime Minister, as it were, of the nation, with all the authority of the King. Kind of like Joseph in the old testament, who had all of the authority of Pharoah. Now imagine you had grown up hearing this at synagogue over and over. You had committed it to memory. Then you heard Jesus say the following to one of His disciples (Simon who we now call Peter):
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock, I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Now, to get a little geeky here, there are those who will say when he said this he meant “you” as in all Christians and not just Peter. That doesn’t hold water, really. The word used is σοι (soi). When this is written this way it means that it indicates exactly one item or individual. So here we have Jesus saying I will give you(singular, Peter) the keys to the kingdom, just as God said He would give them to Eliakim, and that Peter would bind and loosen, just as Eliakim would bind and loose. That’s why we see Peter as the first Pope, the first father of the Church. Notice also with Eliakim this particular wording: He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. The word Pope comes from the Latin word pāpa, which means father. Just like Eliakim, the Pope is charged with being like a father to the members of the nation, the Church. Like a dad, guiding them, protecting them, helping them on their way.
We as a Church also believe that the office is passed on from person to person, just as it was in the first reading. We have an unbroken record of succession from one Pope to the next, all of which were laid hands-on to receive the Holy Spirit. (click here to see the list). Some of them were good, holy men. Some were not. All held the office that Peter once held. That is also why we believe that the Catholic church is the Church founded by Jesus Christ Himself, with Peter as the first leader. Precisely because we can trace it directly back, historically and factually, to Jesus himself. It’s why we should also pray for that man every day, who is tasked with the immense responsibility of shepherding the souls of all Christians (whether they accept him or not.) The Catholic church is a big ship to be at the helm of, and I wouldn’t want that responsibility on my shoulders.
Take some time today to pray for our Pope, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Also pray for vocations that we may continue as a Church, journeying together towards eternity.
A reflection on the readings for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time: August 22, 2020