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Exegesis Texts of the Readings
August 24, 2008 Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) Dr. Terrance Callan Isa 22:15, 19-23 X Romans 11:33-36 X Matt 6:13-20
Any group of people that wishes to work together needs some kind of structure to make that possible. There needs to be leadership of some kind to coordinate the actions of individual group members into an organic whole. Leaders of the church need knowledge and understanding of the church’s fundamental beliefs. The reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans praises God for the mysteries God has made known to Paul: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” Contemplating this moves Paul to say: “To him be glory forever.” This passage concludes Paul’s lengthy discussion of the place of Israel in God’s plan of salvation. The mystery that he has in mind here is that the rejection of Jesus as messiah by some Jews has led to salvation for the Gentiles, and that in the end all Israel will be saved. However, this is not the only mystery God has revealed, and for which God should be praised. The reading from the gospel of Matthew tells of an occasion when another mystery was revealed to Peter. After asking his disciples what other people were saying about him, Jesus asked them who they thought he was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In response Jesus blessed Peter saying, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” God revealed to Peter the mystery of Jesus’ identity as the messiah promised by God. Jesus went on to say that Peter was the rock on which his church would be built. Peter had a special place in the church at least partly because of his knowledge of who Jesus is. Jesus promised to entrust to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and said that whatever Peter bound or loosed on earth would be bound or loosed in heaven. Later in the gospel of Matthew Jesus said the same thing to the church as a whole (18:18). What Jesus said to Peter was prefigured in what God said through the prophet Isaiah in the reading from the book of Isaiah. God told Shebna, master of the palace of King Hezekiah (715-687 BCE), that Eliakim would replace him. God said concerning Eliakim, “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.” In the reading from Isaiah these words refer to Eliakim’s authority over the royal palace. The similar words spoken to Peter refer to his authority over the kingdom of heaven. It is not completely clear what specific authority Matthew saw in these words. It may have been authority over the devil, or juridical authority to excommunicate and make definitive decisions. Subsequently the church has seen these words as conferring on Peter the authority now exercised by the pope. In its most developed form this is the authority to teach infallibly concerning faith and morals. Clearly this presupposes the prior revelation of these truths to the pope. These readings remind us that to be a Christian is to have seen something of the mystery of God that lies behind the ordinary appearance of things. And they suggest that leadership among Christians requires a clear vision of this mystery. Terrance Callan
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