The Gates Of Hell Will Not Prevail Against The Church

Homily of Deacon Mike Harris from Mass on February 22, 2024 at Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis, MS

Referenced Readings:
1 Peter 5:1-4
Matthew 16:13-19

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On Navy ships the captain has his chair and nobody sits in that chair but the captain and it’s symbolic of uh his command Authority for that ship and it’s symb symbolic of his judicial authority over all the crew of the ship and uh that Authority is given to him by

A fleet commander that he reports to and today’s celebration is the chair of St Peter and it’s a similar thing except God is the fleet commander and the pope is the commander of the ship and uh it’s there is a chair St Peter’s chair that still exists

Made of acacia wood and four legs very simple little chair and uh but through the centuries in the Vatican it’s been uh pieces have been taken out to make relics from uh and then it’s been covered with Oak in some places and in the 16th century U brunini one of these

Great artists Architects designed this beautiful thing in the apps APS just like the apps on your phone sounds like but it’s it’s like the very back of the church in St Peter and the apps is the chair of St Peter and each leg is supported by a doctor of the

Church so St Ambrose uh St athanasius John chrisom and St Augustine are each holding up a leg of that chair and they’re 15 feet tall these Bronze Statues of the doctors of the church and what it symbolizes is the theological and um script rtal support of Peter as

The head of the church or this chair of Peter as the symbol of uh you know God’s Shepherd on Earth for the church and then just above the chair are two angels I think they’re more like cherubs they’re each holding a key and the keys are about the size of

Them so they’re little angels and uh they represent the Keys of the Kingdom of God so just like we heard in Our Gospel what you bound bind on Earth will be bound in heaven what be loose and Earth will be loose in heaven and then above that there’s this Alabaster window so

Alabaster is a stone that’s kind of orangish yellow and it’s it’s like Rays coming out from the center of the window and there there uh 12 different sections to represent the 12 different Apostles in the middle is a dove and from the floor looking up into the apps it

Doesn’t look like that big of a dove looks like a normalized dove Dove but because it’s 70 60 ft up in the air that Dove is actually 6 feet wing tip to wing tip it’s huge and it it symbolizes the fact that the church is led by the Holy

Spirit and gives the pope guidance on what to do with the church and so today as we celebrate the chair of St Peter it’s more than the piece of furniture it’s the symbolism what does that chair stand for it stands for the teaching authority of the Church of the Pope and

It uh it stands for the fact that he is the chief Shepherd in the church on Earth he is the visible head of the church on Earth shepherding us and we in our first reading St Peter is exercising that Authority he is teaching the priest

How to be good priest and he says take those congregations that are assigned to to you and give them a shepherd’s care and do it willingly you know and show good example and so he’s teaching them through one Peter and then so that’s St Peter and then today’s Pope Pope Francis uh back

In 2013 he gave a talk very similar exercising his teaching Authority and talking to the priest and you’ll this will be familiar to you he tells the priest to stay close to the mark marginalized and to be Shepherds living with the smell of the sheep I can remember hearing that the

First time I said whoa that is so powerful but it’s again that’s the pope exercising his teaching Authority now so today as we celebrate the chair of St Peter we should thank God for the tremendous love that he’s shown Us in establishing the church in appointing

Peter as the first first head of the church and assuring us telling us that the Gates of Hell will not Prevail against the church