The Gates of Hell

The gates of Hell – in this important passage where Jesus is talking about Peter and the Church, Jesus also speaks of the gates of Hell – we need to pay attention to what Jesus is saying here – the Church will be viciously and skillfully attacked – Jesus said “on this rock I will build my Church – according to Jewish tradition the foundation stone of the Jerusalem Temple capped off and sealed a long shaft leading them to the netherworld ( Hell) – this references two passages from the book of Revelations – “the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star falling from Heaven to earth, (referencing Satan) and he was given the key of the shaft of the bottomless pit; he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke, like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from this shaft; then from the smoke came locusts and they were given power like the power of scorpions on the earth.  They were told not to harm any grass of the earth, or any green growth or any trees, but only those of mankind who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads”– then the other passage towards the end of Revelations says, “I saw an angel coming down from heaven (an angel sent from heaven, not falling from heaven) holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain, and he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who was Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations until the thousand years were ended” –  so this is placing the rock on which Jesus would build His Church, as the temple built to close the shaft of hell – so Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail, he doesn’t say it won’t seem to prevail – just as it seemed that they had prevailed over Jesus at one point, his passion and death – so the Church has to be awake to these powerful, unrelenting, subtle attacks – and Peter is a special part in it – at the Last Supper Jesus told Peter that Satan demanded to have them all that he might sift them all like wheat – so Jesus was announcing again how much Peter and the apostles would be attacked by Satan – but Jesus told them that he had prayed for them that their faith may not fail, “when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren,” – this was Jesus saying the Peter would be weak, but would come back and then be able to strengthen his brothers – it’s important to see what comes immediately after the passage we read from Matthew today – it’s the passage where Jesus announces His passion, and Peter rebukes him saying Lord may that never happen to you, and then Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan, because you are not thinking as God, but as man.” – we know of the successors  of Peter ( the Popes), there have been great saints, and also some who are mediocre, and also some who have been very bad, very evil – the middle ages is a sufficient example of those – so the attack of Satan is not only an exterior attack, but also to infiltrate and contaminate the Church from inside, which is much more dangerous – the clerical scandal of our time, very evil scandal – recent example of Cardinal McCarrick in the United States, in 2002 he was in charge of the charter in Dallas, but later turned out to be one of the most guilty of that very behavior –  At the close of the Second Vatican Council: St. Paul the VI said that the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God – again, a reference to smoke coming from hell – entered into the Church – there is doubt, incertitude, disquiet, confrontation, dissatisfaction, no longer a trust of the Church – doubt has entered our consciouses – entered by windows that should have been open to the light – uncertainty – there was a belief that after the council, there would be a day of sunshine, instead it is the arrival of a day of tempest, darkness, and uncertainty –  So what needs to be done – Jesus is wanting to make us aware of these attacks – Jesus gives us the response in the gospel, when He asks the question, “Who do people say that I am?” – and “Who do you say that I am?” – there were many human opinions in the gospel about Jesus, and we see that they were all wrong – today people say things about Jesus, that he is just a good man, just a prophet, another religious leader, or maybe it’s just all myth, or is He truly the Christ, the Son of the living God,  – a few months later after he was arrested for healing a man, Peter proclaimed to the authorities “by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, is this man standing before you well?,” (the name the authorities told Peter not to say) “This is the stone that was rejected by you builders, but which has become the corner stone”- St. Peter goes on to say, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name in Heaven given among men by which we must be saved” – Peter says Jesus is proclaiming Himself as the rock – Psalm 18 says the Lord is my rock – Saint Paul will say the supernatural rock is Jesus Christ – Jesus said Peter is the rock, St. Paul says Jesus is the rock, the Psalm says Jesus is the rock – so when Peter is united to Jesus, that is what makes him capable of being the rock – it is the union to Jesus, it’s all relative to Jesus – all the strength of the Church comes from Jesus – that’s why there are so many attacks against Christians today are also attacks against Jesus – Jesus and His mystical body the Church – trying to sideline Jesus and make Him irrelevant – the key to the Church is to always know to keep the faith and proclaim the faith in Jesus Christ – the Church’s strength is always in union with Jesus – where did this faith come from – Jesus says, “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this” – Jesus was saying it wasn’t by human efforts but by His Heavenly Father – the faith can only come by a gift from the Father – draws us by the Holy Spirit – the attacks from hell are many and very subtle – the response is always simple and the same, always faith in Jesus – so in the great trial that the world and the Church is living right now, that’s affecting all of us, in so many ways the smoke of Satan and the forces of hell are contaminating so much – Covid virus may be like a sign of a much more dangerous contamination, which is the contamination of the smoke of Satan – this question Jesus asks Peter, and each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?” – He is asking each one of us, “do you believe in Me?” – we gather in this Mass to let the Father by the Holy Spirit, draw us to Jesus, the rock – the only Son of God, the only Savior, the way the truth and the light – the reason for the Mass is always to draw us to Jesus – to unite us to Jesus – in Holy Communion with Jesus – with our Blessed Mother, let us make this act of faith, in Jesus Christ, hidden in the host – responding as St. Thomas did, “My Lord and my God.”