The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, June 29th: Acts 12:1-11; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16:13-19)

IT’S TIME FOR THE CHURCH TO ATTACK

In this week’s gospel reading, Jesus commissioned Peter to be the first pope. OK, fine, Jesus didn’t actually use the word “pope.” But He did say, “And so I say to you, you are Peter (which means ‘rock’ in Greek), and upon this rock I will build my Church…I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.”

If you want, you can argue that Jesus never used the informal Italian word for papa as the title of His Church’s earthly leader. However, you cannot deny that Jesus clearly appointed Peter to be the first earthly leader of His newly-founded Church. And it’s only logical that once Peter died, Jesus would’ve wanted someone to succeed him in that role—and on and on until the present day.

But the papacy is not what I wanted to talk about today. I want to examine the words Jesus spoke between the two sentences just quoted. In the ellipses above (those three dots that indicate something was omitted), Jesus made a very interesting statement. After telling Peter he was the rock, and before giving him the keys, Jesus said this regarding His Church: “The gates of the netherworld (or in some translations, the gates of hell) shall not prevail against it.”

Now, I’ve heard that statement many times in the past. Jesus proclaimed His divine protection for His beloved Church. “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The Church is described in Scripture as the “bride of Christ,” and like any good and honorable husband, Jesus made a pledge that He would protect His beloved from harm. He would ensure that the forces of evil would not attack and destroy His Church.

Recently I heard a sermon on the radio that altered my thinking of this statement made by Jesus. I always viewed this in terms of the Church having protective gates, and being on the defensive against the attacks by Satan and his minions. But the radio preacher (and I apologize for not remembering his name) pointed out that the gates here are owned by Hell. Satan is the one with the defensive barrier, trying to stave off the forces of good which have launched an assault on his kingdom of darkness.

So Jesus is saying here that the Church should not be hiding in our protective enclaves, hoping that the walls and gates are strong enough to keep out the attacking evil forces. The Church instead should be on the offensive, charging the gates of our enemy. Jesus promised the gates of our enemy “shall not prevail,” that is, the defenses of Satan are not strong enough to hold off the armies of Christ.

I find this view very interesting. Jesus did not promise that we would be victorious fighting a defensive battle. He promised we would be victorious by attacking the gates of hell, by going on the offensive.

In recent times, has the Church been very offensive? Well, yeah, if you use a slightly different definition of the word offensive—such as causing shameful scandal—then the Church indeed has been very offensive, which is not a good thing. Using Jesus’ definition of the word offensive, however—being proactive and aggressive in fighting for truth, justice, and the Good News of the Gospel—then we’ve been quite inoffensive, and ineffective.

One of my favorite authors, Peter Kreeft, is a professor of philosophy at Boston College. (He notes that his school’s nickname, B.C., stands for “Barely Catholic.”) Kreeft describes what he calls “the disaster” that befell the Church during the 1960s. He says that this disaster “has taken away half our priests, three-quarters of our nuns, and nine-tenths of our children’s theological knowledge, by turning the Faith of our Fathers into the doubts of our dissenters, in a miraculous reversal of Christ’s first miracle at Cana, turning the wine of the Gospel into the water of psychobabble: an anti-miracle by the Antichrist.”

Whoa, harsh words. If Kreeft is even remotely accurate—and I think he’s VERY accurate; I mean, take a look around at the drivel that passes for catechism education these days—then our Adversary, the devil himself, must have noticed how wimpy our offensive attacks had become and decided to go on the offensive himself. We’ve been reeling under his attacks for four decades now, and tragically, at least three-quarters of the folks who call themselves “Catholic” do not even comprehend that we’re at war.

The war I refer to is a spiritual war, a cosmic battle of good vs. evil. Unfortunately, the troops Jesus counted on to fight an aggressive, offensive campaign are too busy staring at big-screen TVs, downloading porn, buying more shoes, and pushing to the front of the all-you-can-eat buffet line.

It is high time we realized that we are in a struggle to the death. The death of souls, countless precious people, created and loved by God, who are ending up in Hell for eternity because no one ever told them that worshipping earthly pleasures is no substitute for worshiping the Lord. To paraphrase Jesus, gaining the whole world is useless if we end up losing our souls.

Jesus promised us victory in this cosmic struggle, if and when we attack the gates of Hell. But first we must know we’re at war, prepare for battle, and launch our offensive charge. As long as we sit back complacently—fat, dumb, and happy in a fat, dumb, and unhappy culture—we’re going to keep on losing ground. And precious souls will continue to be lost until we finally hear the battle cry and rally ‘round the Cross of Christ.

©2008