+ St Peter’s confession of faith, and then his willingness to
feed the flock of God in all charity is the rock-like foundation of
the Catholic Church – this Jesus clarifies just before he ascends into heaven.
“Belief, followed by acts of love done out of obedience to Christ’s command for
us to take care of one another” is what we are all about! – and it is also what
we are all about as monks of the Church.
Peter professed his faith by
saying “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God;” and he three-times
proclaimed in front of the other apostles: “you know that I love you Lord, yes,
I will feed your sheep and tend your lambs” – inferring not only himself but
also his descendants in the apostolic line of succession.
The true measure of a pope,
bishop, abbot or priest of today is his willingness to base everything he does
on “faith and charity” – otherwise he is a hypocritical “puff of smoke and a
pious fraud” – and no priest or monk at
all.
In this quite frankly
unbelievable unstable and challenging day and age, no less than the first
century, the clergy, the religious and the laity alike are called upon to
witness to the Truth of the Catholic Church – filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit and willing to go to the ends of the earth at the very
most, [and for us, the “farthest west end of Richmond”], and even much more
easily, but again much more difficultly, to the person sitting next to you.
The new kingdom of God begins
right here, right now – and every right here and right now of today!
Come
Holy Spirit – teach us everything we need to know – to
make the real Jesus truly “known among the peoples of the earth!”
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