I can’t think of a more perfect Gospel to bring comfort to those hurting in the Church.
“upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
No matter what kind of hell we messed up human beings try to bring into the Church, Jesus promised us that the Church simply cannot and will not end. Period. He entrusted Peter with the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. He gave Peter the authority to be His vicar on earth. He entrusted Peter and the Apostles with the sacraments to bring healing and Communion to His Church. He knew He was going to suffer and die on the cross, that He would rise from the dead, and that the Church needed leadership until His Second Coming. He didn’t leave them orphans; He sent Peter and the Church the Holy Spirit to guide them.
And you know what?
Jesus did all of that knowing that we’d do our best to screw it all up.
But He still chose us to be part of His plan.
And He promised us that the powers of hell will never prevail against the Church.
Praise You, Jesus.
Just a few verses after Jesus entrusted Peter with the keys of the Kingdom, Peter started refuting God’s plan for bringing salvation to the world. Upon hearing Jesus say that He would go to Jerusalem to suffer, be killed, and rise, Peter said, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
Do you understand the magnitude of what was happening here? Peter was actually trying to prevent Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection from coming to fruition. His love and allegiance to Christ became all about him and his feelings. (Never mind that a few chapters later Peter’s feelings would lead him to deny his beloved Christ three times.) It was all about what Peter wanted instead of Peter trying to figure out if it was somehow what God wanted.
So what does Jesus say to Peter? “Aw, friend, I know you love me, but it’s gonna be okay.”
Nope.
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Two things:
- He called the guy He entrusted with the keys to the Kingdom Satan.
- We become obstacles to God when we think like humans
If Peter, the guy Jesus Himself entrusted with the keys to the Kingdom can get called Satan, then of course the rest of us are capable of trying to bring hell to the Church. I certainly am. All the live-long day.
The Church wouldn’t have such a PR problem if it weren’t full of humans.
But there’s great, great news! It’s not our Church. (Again: Praise You, Jesus!) It belongs to Him. And we have to stop thinking like humans if we’re going to stop bringing hell to His Church.
As a mother, I cannot even fathom entrusting my children with the Church the way Jesus entrusted us with it. As much as I love my children, I don’t let their sticky fingers touch my pristine wedding gown. But isn’t that exactly what He does for us? He allows us, His children, with our sins to do our darnedest to mar His Bride, the Church. He allows broken, imperfect men to participate in the ministerial priesthood. Their soiled hands administer the sacraments. They distribute His literal Body. And you know what the best part is? The sacraments are not dependent on the holiness of the priest administering them. (Again: Praise You, Jesus!) In spite of their failings, the accused priests we keep hearing about in the news were still baptizing its newest members into eternal life, extending God’s real forgiveness in reconciliation, uniting couples in holy matrimony, feeding us Jesus in the Eucharist. Their failings are indeed a scandal, but they can never alter the Truth of what the sacraments are.
God never needed us. He chose us. And we let Him down every day. But He still chooses us. And perhaps He’s being glorified more because His Church has lived on for more than two thousand years in spite of us.
So what about the latest muckity muck happening in the Church? Well. It’s rotten. There’s plenty to have righteous anger about. I like to imagine table-turning Jesus confronting the individuals inflicting so much damage upon His Body–especially those entrusted with leadership positions.
But we have to make sure our response isn’t governed by emotions. We saw where that got Peter. Let’s put on the mind of Christ.
We can be angered and scandalized by the news, but we don’t need to fear what’s coming. No matter what hell remains to be uncovered, it cannot and will not ever affect the truth that this is Christ’s Church, and the gates of hell will never prevail against it. We should and must do what we can to ensure that the kinds of abuses that have taken place do not continue. It’s time for the sleeping giant (aka the lay faithful) to wake up and embrace our role as the universal priesthood of the Church. We must protect our most vulnerable and prevent further damage from taking place. But beyond doing everything humanly possible, we know sinful humans remain within the Church. So long as humans remain in the church, it will be a hospital for sinners instead of a museum for saints. But we can rest in the knowledge that it’s not up to us to keep it afloat. The Church is His. When Pope John XXIII went to sleep, he famously prayed, “It’s Your Church, Lord. I’m going to bed.” Let’s follow his example.
Keep bringing all of the muck to the Light. Bring it to the authorities. Bring it to the Cross for Christ to transform it. Allow Him to bring healing to the victims, to the perpetrators, and to all those scandalized by the failings of our imperfect members. May we never abandon Jesus because of Judas. Jesus, renew Your Church, draw Your faithful ever closer, and cleanse Your Bride. We refuse to leave You.
66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. 67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him.
