Fr. Michael Williams

God has given each one of us various special gifts for the worship of God and the building up of His people. These gifts are many and varied and are called charisms. For example, some people are wonderful musicians and singers (we haven’t got many of them in our congregation- including me!); although we are blessed to have people in Broadgreen Chaplaincy, who take the care of the sick as their special concern. God has given us all various gifts- some are great, some are small, but they are all important. The key to any charism or gift given to us by God is that we utilize it for the love of God and the love of our neighbors. St Paul says ‘without love’ our gifts and charisms are meaningless and useless.

In today’s gospel we hear of the Apostle Peter being given a special charism, a special gift. Jesus says, ‘Simon, son of Jonah: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in Heaven’.

This unique charism given to Peter, and his successors, is a gift, like all the gifts given to the Faithful, for the building up and strengthening of God’s People. We have a further illustration of this when Jesus says to Peter at the end of St John’s Gospel: ‘Feed my sheep, feed my lambs’. Jesus is telling Peter to guide and nurture God’s People. We also know from the Scriptures that Peter was not without failings- we’ll hear something of that failure in next week’s Gospel- but Peter continued to be one of the Lord’s chosen instruments in nurturing and strengthening God’s People. And that ministry has passed on to Peter’s successors throughout the Church’s history.

Benedict XVI, holds the keys of the Petrine Ministry now, and is feeding the youth in Madrid this weekend at WYD. At the beginning of this festival of Faith, Benedict addressed the us all by saying:

‘Dear friends, build your own house on rock…try each day to follow Christ’s word. Listen to him as a true friend with whom you can share your path in life. With him at your side, you will find courage and hope to face difficulties and problems, and even to overcome disappointments and set-backs…only the faith we have received is the light which shines on our path. Gratefully accept this spiritual gift which you have received…strive to respond responsibly to God’s call, and to grow in your faith…and thank the Lord that you have received it, and have made it your own!’

This seems good advice, to encourage both young and old alike, on our pilgrimage of faith. We all need that encouragement from time to time, especially when life appears difficult.

But it’s also important that we encourage others in their Faith, especially those weighed down by life’s burdens and misunderstandings. We can become a rock for them, someone to rely on, someone to lean on, someone to pray for them.

Like Peter we are moulded from ordinary clay: ‘We have seen his flesh and blood mixture, being weak and strong, cold and hot, fearful and courageous’. But like Peter we have been given gifts from the Lord, to support and encourage His People on their journey through life.