by Fr. Ed Liptak, SDB
That is the memorable description of our Church voiced by Bishop Fulton Sheen over radio even before he was on Television. Indeed, certain things are lasting. “The Rock.”— Such is the title given to St. Peter by Jesus during their long journey from the shores of the Mediterranean. They are north of the Lake now and still in the depth of pagan lands. In fact, they are near a shrine of the pagan god Pan, half goat, and half man. Sacrifices to him of goats were tossed into a dark pool inside a cave to see whether they would be accepted, pulled down into the shadow land of the nether world.
That is the atmosphere in which Jesus asked, “Who do people say I am?” He is, of course, the Eternal One, the Immortal Word of God, everlasting like the mountains surrounding them. He is the true Rock founding his Church, which will indeed be a Rock plunged into eternity, composite of heaven and earth, lasting on earth as long as the earth will last, lasting in heaven forever. Poor Peter, called ‘Rock,’ despite all his fissures was to take the place of Jesus on earth. Upon him would occur the great transfer of divine power in Jesus to the Church, our Kingdom of Heaven on earth
It is this fractured man who professes, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” One of the wonders of our Church is that it has survived. In various times of history, it has been pummeled by politics, jealousy, ambition, confusion, even at one point a need to figure out who was the real Pope of three claimants. Yet, the Church survives and flourishes. It does so because it is human but also divine, and Jesus the True Rock has never abandoned it. In one of the most trying of these times God chose an inspired woman, St. Catherine of Siena (died 1380) to rekindle holiness and faithfulness to him. She is credited with saving the Church.
Our own age has been chaotic and morally adrift. Yet we have been blessed by a series of Popes well in the footsteps of Jesus and Peter. Each of them has displayed both strength and human weakness. Each has been chosen by God to lead his Church. Differences there may be, but Christ intends never to abandon us. On our part, loyalty to our Church must never forsake us.