Matthew 16: 13-20
When Jesus gave "the keys to the kingdom of heaven" to Peter, was he giving the Church the power and authority of God? Or was he perhaps inviting us to share in the mind and love of God? When he declared that whatever Peter bound and loosed on earth would also be bound and loosed in heaven, was he giving the Church the power and authority over our eternal destination? Or was he perhaps inviting us to assume the responsibility of seeing, judging, and loving one another as God does? Whose desires does our Church reflect: ours or God's? Whose needs does our Church serve: ours or God's? Do we truly embody the love and mercy of the Father who sacrificed his only Son on our behalf? Or are we the greedy little child who is given the key to the candy store and gorges himself until he is sick? Do we plead the case of each and every one of our brothers and sisters before the Divine Judge? Or are we the spoiled brat who is given the job of doorkeeper to the party and delights in keeping more people out than he lets in?