The Rock of the Church and the Rock of Our Lives: Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

First Reading: Is 22:19-23

Gospel Reading: Mt 16:13-20

Our readings this weekend invite us to reflect on the rock upon which Jesus has built His Church, and also on the rock upon which we are each building our lives. Let us look first at the Church. In the Gospel today, Jesus tells Saint Peter that he, Peter, is the rock upon which Jesus will build His Church. Jesus is making a play on words here, since the name “Peter” in both Greek and Aramaic means “rock.” Jesus chose Saint Peter as the foundation and the leader of His Church. Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. This is a reference to what we heard in the First Reading. Eliakim was made the “master of the palace,” which means that he was second in command to the king. His job was to carry the key to the master’s house. He controlled access to the king, either by unlocking or locking the palace doors for the people who wanted to see him. This is the kind of power and authority that Jesus gave to Saint Peter, the first pope, and to every one of Peter’s successors—all of the other popes—throughout history. Jesus Himself started the Catholic Church, and He built it upon Saint Peter, the rock. Jesus did this because of Peter’s faith in Jesus. Peter built his life on the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

This brings us to the second reflection we are meant to have today: What are you and I building our lives upon? Who do we say that Jesus is? If Jesus is simply a teacher or a prophet or an imaginary person to us, then of course we are not going to build our lives upon Him. But if we truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then you and I have to make some changes in our lives. We have to stop building our lives upon the opinions of other people. We have to stop building our lives upon wealth, power, honor, and pleasure. We have to stop building our lives on anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the answer to every question of our hearts. He is the One we have been looking for. Do we believe this? Do our lives reflect this reality?

Jesus is asking you and me every day: “Who do you say that I am?” We prove our response by how we live our lives, by how we spend our time, by how we spend our money, by the kinds of decisions that we make. Is Jesus the foundation—the rock—of your life? He has great plans to use us to build up His kingdom here on earth. But our lives must be built upon Him in order for Him to build His kingdom upon us.

As our Lord becomes present to us today in the Eucharist, and as we see Him lifted up in the host, let us pray silently in our hearts: “My Lord and my God.” As we receive Him in holy Communion, let us ask Him to strengthen us, that our faith in Him and in His Church would be as sturdy as a rock so that He can use each one of us in the building up of His kingdom here on earth.