+ Today we celebrate the feast of St. Leo the Great – a fifth century pope and doctor of the church: and so far, only one of two popes given the title: "great!" (although it seems certain that Pope John Paul II of our own time will become the third to bear that distinguished title). A pope bears the name "great" because he is used by God in an unusually powerful way, often times in a particularly difficult time in Church history. This was true in the case of Leo. The barbarians were still trying to disrupt life in Italy and life in the Church even as late as the fifth century. Leo, as Pope, even went to the Alps to meet with Attila the Hun to broker terms of peace. Leo's greatest contribution to the Church was his insistence on the fact that the papacy was a direct link with the person of St. Peter – the Pope was an heir of St. Peter himself, not just of his authority – but of his very person: when you see and hear the Pope, you see and hear St. Peter: while at the same time seeing Christ himself who is fully present in every priest. This supremacy of the Pope did place him in a leadership role above all the other bishops – but in time, especially in the days of Vatican II, the emphasis would be on a collaborative effort among them: they are a true college of bishops with the pope at its head.
The first reading today from the Book of Sirach teaches us that those who study the law of God will be filled with the spirit of understanding. To the degree that he throws himself into this study he will be filled with counsel and knowledge for others, having wisdom to share and will even be considered great in the eyes of men and God. Leo was such a student of the law of God and administrator of what he himself learned.
The gospel passage relates how Peter became the head not only of the initial college of bishops: the Apostles: but also of the whole Church. He declared Christ to be the Son of the living God by a supreme act of faith, moved by the Holy Spirit. And he became the greatest Apostle of all along with St. Paul – the pair of which being the foundation on which the Church of Christ was built – so that generations of Christians could have a rocklike foundation on which to build their faith-life.
And so today we really celebrate a feast of St. Peter – we look to our rootedness in faith – we look forward to our unification one day in the Kingdom of Heaven – where all will be all in all – and the work of Christ will be complete!
You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it!
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