Gospel according to Saint Matthew 16:13-19:

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 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.”

Every encounter with Jesus has consequences

Luis CASASUS President of the Idente Missionaries

Rome, June 29, 2025 | Saints Peter and Paul

Acts 12: 1-11; 2 Tim 4: 6-8.17-18; Mt 16: 13-19

In the dialogue recounted in today’s Gospel, Christ could have told the future Saint Peter that he knew his weakness, that he knew how he would fail when he needed him most, and that he would argue with the other disciples about who among them would be the first and the greatest. He could have told him that, even though he was weak and vain, denying him and fleeing, he had decided to build his Church on him; he could have confessed that he also knew how much he loved him and what he would be capable of doing for love of him.

But, simply, in front of all the other apostles and the whole world, so that it would never be forgotten until the end of time, he told him that he would be his Rock, and that the gates of hell, the powers of death, the enemies of the Church, and its persecutors would not prevail against it. Every intimate encounter with Christ always brings a surprise. Above our weakness is grace, whose victory becomes visible at the right time.

One day, St. Paul saw Peter behaving inappropriately with some Gentiles, refusing to eat with non-Jewish Christians for fear of the more conservative ones (Gal 2:11-14). He was corrected by St. Paul, but he was a man and he made mistakes. However, St. Paul never hesitated to follow the Rock and go to Jerusalem to see St. Peter (Gal 1:18). That is the power of the Church: it is built on the Rock.

There is nothing more powerful than the Church; stop fighting against it, lest your strength be overcome. Do not fight against heaven. If you fight against a man, you win or you lose. But if you fight against the Church, you cannot win. For God is stronger than all… Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. What words? You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (St. John Chrysostom).

When we speak of a decisive encounter with Christ, such as that of Simon Bar-Jonah, the future Saint Peter, we cannot forget that this continues to happen today, when someone appears on our path whose example of life brings us vividly to mind the memory of Jesus, or perhaps someone in whose suffering we see the face and pain of all humanity… and also the divine affliction.

When we feel discouraged, it is important to remember how St. Peter himself goes from being a rock to a stumbling block and an obstacle in Jesus’ path, who even calls him “Satan.”

From rock to stumbling block: it is difficult to conceive of a greater contrast.

Something of that same contrast, even contradiction, is in all of us, in our relationship with Christ. We have moments when we are in harmony with his will for us and others when we feel in conflict with his desire for our lives. Yet the Master kept his faith in Peter, despite his failings, and he also keeps his faith in us, even when we are openly unfaithful to him.

In addressing Peter as the rock, Jesus refers to the Church as “my Church,” not the Church “of the Pope.” Because it is “his Church,” it will endure, even when those who have pastoral responsibility for the Church may fail and many of its members are mediocre. Because the Church has the risen Lord present within her until the end of time, the gates of hell, the powers of evil and death, will never be able to withstand her; in the end, they will not triumph.

We can also recall now the conversion of Saint Paul, whose soul was prepared by Providence, undoubtedly from before he contemplated with pleasure the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, whom he surely never ceased to remember with gratitude as a messenger from heaven to show him the way to the most glorious martyrdom. In Saul’s case, the essence of the message he received was to make him look sincerely within himself: Why are you persecuting me?

—ooOoo—

There are many people, Catholics, Protestants, or of any other faith, who do good with admirable, sometimes sublime generosity. But some, whom we call “saints,” have the ability to bring us closer to Christ by their lives, which are truly canonizable, that is, worthy of being canonized, of serving as models and stimuli for imitating Christ by living the Spirit of the Gospel. They are examples of people in whom we find Christ in a decisive way for our spiritual life.

A modern case. Blessed Sandra Sabattini (1961-1984) was a brilliant young woman, although serious and shy. She lived in Riccione, an Italian city on the Adriatic coast. She studied medicine and had faith, but she was not particularly devout.

She met a priest named Don Oreste Benzi, who organized gatherings for young people who helped people with disabilities, drug addicts, and the homeless. At one of these gatherings, while washing a paraplegic man, Sandra realized that God was in the weakest. Her reflection was: You cannot love God without getting your hands dirty.

From then on, she devoted herself fully to volunteer work, gave up luxuries, and wrote: I no longer belong to myself. I cannot live only for myself. She died in a car accident at the age of 22, on her way to a meeting of her volunteer group, and was beatified in 2021.

—ooOoo—

The First Reading recounts how an angel frees Saint Peter from prison shortly before the time set by King Herod for his execution. They may be angels or they may be human beings whom God places in our path to lead us to a freedom that seemed impossible, to overcome persecution or to overcome a moral limitation that we believed to be insurmountable.

That person, of course, will not be perfect; undoubtedly, there will be light and shadow in their life, as in all of us. I remember a case in one of our parishes:

Andrés was a devout man, committed to his Christian community and a faithful attendee at the Eucharist every Sunday.

However, deep inside he harbored a deep resentment toward his younger brother, who years earlier had betrayed his trust by stealing a large sum of money at a critical moment in his life. Although time had passed, Andrés remained firm in his conviction: I cannot forgive someone who has betrayed me in this way. God is just, and I cannot act as if it never happened.

For him, forgiving was synonymous with tolerating sin. He was convinced that doing so would be renouncing God’s justice.

One day, in a prayer group, he met a mature woman who shared her testimony. She told how her son had abandoned the faith, fallen into drug addiction, and deeply hurt his family. Years later, he returned repentant. Claudia not only welcomed him back, but also helped him recover and reconcile with God. When someone in the group asked her how she was able to do that, she replied:

I didn’t do it because he deserved it. I did it because Christ forgave me first. And if I, a sinner, received mercy, how can I not offer it to others?

That statement had a profound impact on Andrés. It was not a confrontation, but rather a revelation. For the first time, he understood that forgiveness was not weakness or abandoning justice, but obedience to the radical love that Christ taught.

Over time, Andrés decided to talk to his brother. It wasn’t easy, but for the first time they prayed together. In this way, he didn’t erase the past, but he opened a door to the future. And it all began because a courageous believer lived her faith and confessed her weakness with humility and mercy.

I wonder how many times, because of my prejudices or my lack of attention, I have missed the opportunity to read the divine will, manifested in people who did not seem to me to be bearers of his message.

Like Peter, many saints have had moments when their dominant defect, their fragility, was manifested, but they did not hide it.

On the contrary, they have been faithful to the Spirit of the Gospel, which teaches us to share the same sentiment as St. Paul: I will much rather boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor 12:9).

A notable case is that of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. She herself acknowledges in her writings that she was extremely sensitive: she cried easily and had emotional outbursts.

When she was in the convent, she did not always find comfort in prayer, she struggled with pride, judgment of the other sisters, and a strong feeling of spiritual dryness. During her illness (tuberculosis), she suffered deep doubts about the existence of heaven and God, although she continued to believe “blindly” because, as she herself says, God made me understand that there are imperfect souls… and yet they are loved by Him.

In her diary, we can see how she does not idealize herself, recognizing her impatience, her faults, her weariness, and her constant struggle between the desire for recognition and her inner call to modesty and humility.

Today, as we celebrate the 66th anniversary of the founding of our Institute, let us look with deep gratitude to our Father Founder, whose life faithfully conformed to all that he left us as instruments to progress in holiness together and to be capable of living and transmitting the Gospel in the midst of our smallness.

_______________________________

In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Luis CASASUS

President