Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah

29 JUNE (Mt 16,13-19)

To know in truth who Peter is, we must distinguish the historical Peter, the theological Peter, the Catholic literature Peter, the Peter of daily life, the Peter of the dogma and the Peter of the Gospel. If we understand who the true Peter of the Gospel is, we will give truth to every other Peter existing in the minds of men. The Peter of the Gospel is often refused right because we offer people the Peter of our minds, our theology, our philosophy and our daily lives.

So it is right that we ask ourselves: who is the Peter of the Gospel? What did Jesus the Lord do of him? What is the divine will of his ministry? What is the truth of his charisma? As a first essential absolute truth, we must immediately say that Peter is to the Church as Christ is to the Church. They are a single irreplaceable foundation. Christ is the invisible foundation. Peter is the visible foundation. Visible foundation and invisible foundation are a single indivisible foundation. Who divides Christ from Peter, possesses neither Christ and nor Peter. This truth is absolute, eternal, until the end of the world Christ and Peter are one and only indivisible foundation.

Christ is the foundation of truth, life and way. He is the foundation of every grace and holiness. He is the basis of perfect exemplariness. He is the foundation of eternal stability. He is the basis of redemption, justification and vicar atonement. He is the foundation on which Christ Jesus perpetually washes his church with his own blood to make her pure, holy and immaculate, in order to present her to God as a chaste, most pure virgin, without any stain. He is the foundation of perennial spiritual elevation, perennial purification and constant sanctification. He is not a neutral, but an active foundation. The life of the whole Church is constantly from Him. The foundation that as water welling up to eternal life always gives life to the Church and makes her operator of abundant fruit.

Peter is also called to be all that. He is not it. Must he become one. How? Every day, immersing himself in Christ, to transform himself totally in Christ the Head and Shepherd of his Church. Peter is not permitted a mediocre, small holiness, of low stature. He is requested a holiness in all similar to that of his Master. He is obliged to be filled with the Holy Spirit, full of grace and truth, rich with wisdom and knowledge, formed in every virtue, always stabilized in the will of the Father. Never must he let himself be affected by men. Never make himself a slave to his needs or exigencies. He will have to know only one will of government: the one of the heavenly Father. In this he must imitate Jesus Christ to perfection. Jesus is always from the will of God. He was never from the convenience of men, not even for an instant. Not even was he from the love of his Mother. He has always taken the right distances even from her.

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi 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 Messiah, 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.”

The ministry of Peter is very high. He is called to testify at every other person, sheep and lambs, that his love for Christ the Lord surpasses the love of the whole Church. No one must love Christ more than Him. He is the foundation of all holiness, truth and justice. The grace of God must turn him into a real living Christ. Christ over the others. Christ the teacher of others. For this reason he must be the person wholly delivered to Christ. If in the others some weakness is also permitted, nothing is allowed him but the perfect identification with Lord Jesus. Whoever sees him he must see the Lord.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints give us the Peter of the Gospel.