Aug 23 Sun
Why is there the authority of the pope in the Church?
Christ put Peter first among the Twelve as the rock on whom He would build His Church. “Christ, the ‘living stone’ (1 Pet 2:4), thus assures His Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death.
“The ‘power of the keys’ given to him designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church.” “The power to ‘bind and loose’ connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church.”
“Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom He specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.”
Peter receives from the Son of God a mission that extends beyond his own life, to be inherited by his successors, to serve the Church, and to span space and time in the service of redeemed humanity. Assisted especially by the Holy Spirit, Peter strengthens Christians in the faith and is the guarantor of the Church’s unity and universality.
The love for Peter is something the other apostles will come to understand over time: when, barely a year later, they see him launching into a sermon, full of zeal, before a crowd; or when they turn to him in search of guidance and strength to continue their ministry.
The Pope stands in the place of Peter for the whole Church, and the various bishops stand in the place of the Apostles.
Union with the Pope is a sure path to fidelity to God and to fruitfulness in our service to the Church. As St. Ambrose taught: “Where Peter is, there is the Church; where the Church is, there is no death, but eternal life.”
Our love for Christ is inseparable from our love for the Church and for the Roman Pontiff. That is why St. Josemaría encouraged us: “Love, venerate, pray for, and mortify yourself daily with ever greater devotion—for the Roman Pontiff, the cornerstone of the Church, who continues among men, throughout the centuries and until the end of time, that work of sanctification and governance that Jesus entrusted to Peter.”
Thus, we must be good followers, cooperating with the Pope and our bishop.
We can't follow either of these men if we don’t know where they want to lead us. How can we know what they want?
Hopefully, our parish priest will tell us things in the Sunday homily and at other days.
Then there is the media. We have to be good discerners of media, since so much is greatly distorted. It is necessary to find media outlets you trust.
We can also, according to our capacity, read what the Pope and our bishop write. The Pope’s encyclicals, audiences, homilies, and other addresses can be read on the Vatican website.
Finally, we should pray daily for both the Pope and our bishop, for their well-being and for what they want done to be faithfully carried out.