Homily for the Memorial of St. Dominic

Today's Gospel reveals two sides of Peter. Initially, he displays a remarkable understanding of Jesus, identifying Him as "the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus responds by calling him the rock on which He would build His Church.

Later, however, Peter rebukes Jesus for speaking about His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. At this point, Jesus addresses him as Satan and as an obstacle in his path. It is hard to conceive of a greater contradiction: from rock to stumbling stone.

There is a similar contradiction in our relationship with the Lord. We have moments when we are in harmony with the Lord's will for us, but we also have other moments when we are in discord with His will. Yet, the Lord maintains His faith in us despite our shortcomings, just as He did with Peter.

This narrative tells us that Jesus founded His Church on a somewhat imperfect rock that could potentially become a scandal, a stumbling stone. When Jesus calls Peter the rock, He refers to the Church as "my church." It will persevere because it is Jesus' Church, even when those with pastoral responsibility for the Church falter. Because the Church has the Risen Lord within it until the end of the age, the gates of the netherworld, the powers of evil and death, will never triumph over it.