Lectionary: 121
Reading 1
Isaiah 22:19-23
Thus says the LORD to Shebna, master of the palace:
“I will thrust you from your office
and pull you down from your station.
On that day I will summon my servant
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah;
I will clothe him with your robe,
and gird him with your sash,
and give over to him your authority.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and to the house of Judah.
I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder;
when he opens, no one shall shut
when he shuts, no one shall open.
I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot,
to be a place of honor for his family.”
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8
R/ (8bc) Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple.
R/ Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.
I will give thanks to your name,
because of your kindness and your truth:
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R/ Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.
The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.
Your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R/ Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.
Reading 2
Romans 11:33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given the Lord anything
that he may be repaid?
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen.
Gospel
Matthew 16:13-20
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and
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.”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples
to tell no one that he was the Christ.
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: MASTER KEY
"I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open." –Isaiah 22:22
The Lord gave Eliakim the key to open things so that they could never be shut and to shut things so that they could not be opened. Eliakim had the authority to open the most closed hearts to the Lord's love. He could shut up the demons of abortion, and they would never be unbound. Because of this awesome authority, Eliakim was like "a peg in a sure spot" (Is 22:23). You could hang your future, marriage, family, work, and hopes on Eliakim's authority and they would not fall down.
Jesus, the Son of David, received Eliakim's key of the House of David (Is 22:22). Jesus is "the holy One, the True, Who wields David's key, Who opens and no one can close, Who closes and no one can open" (Rv 3:7). Jesus has "full authority" in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18). He even holds "the keys of death and the nether world" (Rv 1:18). Moreover, Jesus entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven to His body, the Church, and particularly to Peter and his successors, the popes (Mt 16:18-19). Therefore, to hang our lives on "a peg in a sure spot," we must give our lives to Jesus, "the Messiah" and "the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16), and then live in submission to the Church and the Pope. Under this authority, we will live in victory and security.
PRAYER: Father, may I discipline myself to study the Pope's teachings.
PROMISE: "How deep are the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!" –Rm 11:33
PRAISE: Praise Jesus, risen with full authority over death! Praise Jesus, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father!
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