Jesus's Rocks

Dog spelled backwards is God.  We all know that.  It has a wonderful ring of truth.  They don’t judge or brag.  They don’t worry, and dogs greet us with seeming glee and excitement each and every time we arrive.  We should be like them.  I chose a corgi or a golden retriever.  

Has God founded a Church to which we should join? Well, we believe God has – the Catholic Church, although many Catholics have left.  They have through their feet expressed disappointment and dissatisfaction in part due to poor judgment of Church leaders who judge and condemn.  They see a shortfall of mercy.  Pope Francis emphasizes mercy and has often stated: “Who am I to judge?”

We believe Jesus founded our Church.  To me that always has seemed odd.  After all, Jesus was a Jew and taught in the synagogue.  Once his Jewish followers were expelled from the synagogue because they believed Jesus was the Christ – the Messiah – they and those that followed him established and organized the Christian Church separate from Judaism although retaining the Hebrew Scriptures – our renamed Old Testament. 

But, Matthew 16:17-19 reads: Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so, I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  This would seem to indicate Jesus established the Church with Peter being the rock.  Does it?  Matthew said so.  Even so…

I prefer to think that Jesus is the rock on which our Church has been built.  Of course, Peter being the “rock” led to the line of popes serving from the chair of Peter. The Chair of Saint Peter, also known as the Throne of Saint Peter, is a relic conserved in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the sovereign enclave of the Pope inside Rome, Italy. The relic is a wooden throne that tradition claims belonged to the Apostle Saint Peter, the leader of the early Christians in Rome and first Pope, and which he used as Bishop of Rome.  

I believe “ruling” from his throne seems a bit antithetical to Peter’s role and Jesus’ intent.  His intent was to refer to his new family of disciples as those who did the will of his Father.  Jesus wanted a community that would follow his teachings and endure all storms with Peter being the builder – the rock.

Peter may have been the builder, but Jesus had the blueprint.  We have had different popes (Peters) for centuries, but we always have had the same Jesus – our Christ – who created the key Peter used to open doors to our hearts, minds, and souls.  

Now, our challenge is to be rocks for Jesus – sort of like the many rocks we find strewn on the Sandy Neck seashore with his waves splashing on us, moving us, and making us glisten in the sun.

I end by wishing our Church was more like a doghouse, if you get my meaning (refer to comic).

Deacon David Pierce