21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, A August 23, 2020
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/FJ-LHdThtl4
Have you ever been attacked by a gate? Lost a fight to one? I mean, Jesus says “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against” the church that he will build on a rock. A church and a gate… two inanimate objects – how can one of them “prevail” against the other? I think most people just interpret this passage as if the netherworld is on the offense and the Church is the one being attacked…
In a certain sense, that is true. The world and the devil are always trying to destroy the Church. Still, there has to be a reason he uses the image of “gates” rather than armies, right? Well, when let’s consider what Jesus means by the word “Church.” The original Greek word here is “ekklesia” which is translated as church, assembly, or gathering. But the more literal breakdown of the parts of the word means “called out.” The gathering is specifically of people who are called out of somewhere else into this sacred gathering. And if we think of the Church as something that calls people out of where they are, this metaphor of gates starts to make a lot more sense.
The Church’s mission is to call people out of the fallen world and into the Body of Christ. The gates of hell will not “prevail” because they will not be able to keep people out of the Church. And the image of binding and loosing fits with this theme. In addition to being a symbol of his teaching authority, the keys given to Peter include the authority to forgive sins, to set people free from the death that sin brings.
To put it simply, hell is on defense, we are on offense… storming the kingdom of darkness to rescue souls from damnation. The two gates of hell which hold us in are sin and error. Satan, the father of lies, tell us lies about what makes us happy, about what it means to be man or woman, about who Jesus really is. But knowing that truth is not enough. We also have to live it, to break free of the gate of sin.
The Church is empowered to break both of these gates. The first one, error, will not prevail because Jesus has sent the Spirit of Truth to the apostles. By the Holy Spirit, the church will never officially teach error… it will never lose the truth about who Jesus Christ is and what he taught. This doesn’t mean members of the Church, even her leaders, will never make mistakes, but it does mean the Church herself will never officially teach falsehood. This is what Jesus means when he changes Simon’s name to Peter – which means “rock” – and then says he will build the church on the rock.
The other gate, sin, is broken by the Church’s power to forgive sins, to bind and loose on earth and heaven. The devils know the truth but remain in hell because they have eternally chosen sin. While on this earth, we have the ability to turn away from sin, to repent. This repentance has to go through the Church. Jesus did not give his authority to forgive sins to the Church just so we can ignore it. The Church is the body of Christ, so if we try to get forgiveness without the Church, we are basically trying to divide Jesus against himself. Put simply, the sacrament of confession is not optional.
In both of these, there is mystery. “How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!” God uses feeble, fallible men as agents of his infallible truth. He uses weak, sinful men as agents of his forgiveness. Some do become saints, but even when the priests and bishops are not, God’s power still works through them. Nonetheless, the mission of the Church is not limited to us. You too are meant to be a voice that “calls out” to souls lost in the kingdom of darkness, to point them beyond the gates to the truth and mercy of God in the Church.
So be that voice! Start by considering whether or not you’ve been set free yourself. Do you know the faith? Do you reject certain doctrines of the Church? Do you perhaps just misunderstand them? The gates of hell use lies, errors, and false impressions to keep us locked up in the delusion that we know better, trapped in the belief that the way of the world is true enough. Never stop studying the faith, especially those doctrines you find the most difficult to understand.
And go to confession! It’s a requirement to go at least once a year and if you don’t, it is considered a mortal sin. But don’t focus on the punishment. Instead, consider what it offers: Certainty that you are forgiven. You hear the words “ego te absolvo” or “I absolve you” and you know you are forgiven by Jesus Christ’s own power. It helps to be held accountable, motivating you to avoid sins so you don’t have to say them again. It gives you the chance to ask advice and guidance on escaping sins that have trapped you behind the gate. There is also a real psychological and spiritual benefit to speaking your sins out loud; The seal of the confessional is absolute – so we can’t tell anyone. Besides, we generally don’t remember what you say, and we don’t think less of you for what you say. More often than not, we’re simply glad you’re finding forgiveness. If you’ve had a bad experience with confession, I am sorry. Please do not let a bad priest, or a good priest on a bad day, be an excuse to stay away from the power of Jesus Christ given to that priest, to all priests. Go to confession at least once a year, but I urge you to go more than that, once a month is much better.
Allow yourself to be called out beyond the gates of the netherworld, the barriers of sin and error. Then, join your voice to the Church calling friends, family, neighbors, and even enemies beyond the gates. When you feel stuck, when you seem unheard, when the task seems impossible, do not be afraid, do not be disheartened. The Church is empowered by Christ himself who built it up, and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it.