Simon Peter said in reply: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “The Keys of Peter Sunday” should be the name of this Sunday. It marks the handing over of the keys to the kingdom of heaven, which represent Authority in the Church and the Kingdom.

I would like to think that when we reach the gates of heaven, we will meet St. Peter, and he will have some questions for us. They won’t be difficult or trick questions. However, they will evaluate us on whether we have lived our faith while in this world. In other words, St. Peter will want to know if we were listening and attentive, and if we learned anything about the Kingdom of Heaven.

In our beautiful state of of Arizona, we have many places to visit which inspire us to see God’s grandeur. Have you been to Sedona lately? I drove back from Flagstaff last week and saw the famous red rocks.

Sedona has a New Age reputation and, in fact, Caesarea Philippi was just this sort of place in the Holy Land. It was a place of great beauty with huge red rocks, yet it was a pagan place, the center of the worship especially of the god of shepherds named Pan.

And it was in this pagan place that Jesus took the Twelve to ask them who people say He is and also, “But who do you say that I am?”

As good stewards of the Church, counting out our many blessings from God, we have great cause to be grateful for the crucial position of successor of Saint Peter for several reasons:Teaching, Governing and Sanctifying. So Peter spoke for all of mankind, confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and He then established the Church, built with the twelve apostles as pillars, resting upon the immovable foundation of the rock of St. Peter to pass on the three great Church offices of: Teaching, Governing and Sanctifying.

We speak of Jesus first as prophet or teacher, second as King or shepherd of the flock, and third as priest, the man of sacrifice.

Jesus the Teacher used words of wisdom, compassion, and consolation to challenge and hold the crowds spellbound, as He always spoke with an authority unfamiliar to his listeners.

Jesus the Good Shepherd restored the flock to wholeness. Not only did he bestow physical healing on the blind, lame and mute, but He also healed individual souls and communities by forgiving sins and reconciling enemies.

Jesus the great High Priest offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice. He humbled Himself of his divinity so as to share in our humanity. He even gave of Himself for the sake of others, even to the point of giving His life on the cross, all for the remission of our sins.

Fr. Kilian and all of our great Parish Staff

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