Dr. Douglas Flippen, PhD
Tuesdays, April 24 & May 1, 2012
St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, Fairfax, VA
Part One:
Part Two:
Thou Art Peter...Part 3
Having focused our attention on Blessed Peter’s proclamation
that Jesus is the King, the New Solomon, and having dismissed the Protestant
attack that Peter is simply an insignificant stone, and not the foundation of
the Church, we now have the tools to consider the rest of the passage in its
proper context. “Thou art Christ, . . .
thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. And I will give to thee the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon the
earth, it shall be bound also in heaven” (Matt 16:16-19).
Peter’s proclamation that Jesus is the Christ evokes Our
Lord’s response that Peter is the Rock upon which Jesus, the New Solomon, will
build the house of God, the Church. “The rock” in ancient Israel was the “rock of Moriah” upon which
Solomon built the house of God (the Temple)
and upon which the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, stands today. Among the Jews, there was a tradition that
named this rock as the capstone of the gates of hell, and as long as this rock
was in place, hell could not prevail on earth.
Having declared that Peter is the new rock, our Lord concludes his
proclamation with the words, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it,” confirming our understanding that Peter is indeed the foundation-stone of
the Church.
Thou Art Peter...Part 2
Having considered yesterday Saint Peter’s great proclamation
of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the long awaited New King Solomon (Matt
16:16), and having witnessed Our Lord’s expected response to this proclamation,
that of building the house of the Lord upon the Rock (as King Solomon did in
the Old Testament), let us turn this today to the common Protestant attack upon
the Catholic interpretation of this text.
Pay close attention to the linguistic gymnastics which a Protestant must
go through, as well as the linguistic response that a Catholic must make to
unravel the mess (a pen and paper may help to keep it all straight).
Thou Art Peter...Part 1
Today is the seventh anniversary of the election of the Holy Roman Pontiff,
Pope Benedict XVI.
Therefore, in honor of this great and historic event, over the next
three days we will meditate upon the great mystery on the person of Simon
Peter, Prince of the Apostles and Vicar of Christ.
In an attempt to deny the authority of the Pope, and thus free himself
from the Catholic Church, Martin Luther was faced with the difficult challenge
of dismissing Our Lord’s words to Saint Peter as recorded in the Gospel of
Matthew: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the
powers of death shall never prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven.” (Matt. 16:18-19). The Catholic Church has always interpreted
this passage as identifying Peter as the foundation stone upon which Christ
will build His Church. In order to
reject the Catholic interpretation of this passage, many Protestants are forced
to do linguistic gymnastics, denying that our Lord’s words are a bestowal of
certain privileges on Saint Peter, and teaching instead that Jesus is actually
demeaning Peter in this passage. As with
past topics, context is essential for an authentic interpretation of the text.
Christ is Risen!
O Death, Where is Your
Sting?
O Hades, Where is Your
Victory?
CHRIST
IS RISEN!
Let all pious men and all lovers of God rejoice in the splendor of this feast; let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord; let those who have borne the burden of Lent now receive their pay, and those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward. Let any who came after the third hour be grateful to join in the feast, and those who may have come after the sixth, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and He receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him who comes on the eleventh hour, as well as to him who has toiled since the first: yes, He has pity on the last and He serves the first; He rewards the one and is generous to the other; he repays the deed and praises the effort.
Come you all, enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward; you rich and you poor, dance together; you sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day; you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly laden: enjoy its royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of his goodness.
Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone forth from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free. He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh.
When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: "O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world." Hades is angered because it has been frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now held captive. It seized a body, and lo! it discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! it encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible.
O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and life is freed;
Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen
(Saint John Chrysostom, Sermon on Pascha)
Rejoice O Queen of Heaven, for He whom though didst merit to bear, has risen from the dead as He said, Alleluia.
Ora Pro Nobis Deum, Alleluia
CHRIST IS RISEN!
He Descended into Hell
Today He who hung the earth
upon the waters is hung upon the Tree.
He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns. He who wraps the heaven in clouds is wrapped
in the purple of mockery. He who in the Jordan
set Adam free receives blows upon His face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails. The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a
spear.1
Today a tomb holds
Him who holds the creation in the hollow of His hand; a stone covers Him who
covers the heavens with glory.2 [Today] Our Lord [rode] to the underworld,
invaded death’s fortress, broke open its strong room and scattered all its
treasures.3 Today is
salvation for men upon the earth, and for those who from ages past are beneath
the earth. Ye that sit in darkness and
the shadow of death, receive the great Light!
St. Mary of Egypt - Buried by a Lion!
Today is the Feast Day of St. Mary of Egypt. What a phenomenal witness of repentance and an ideal model for Lent! St. Mary of Egypt was highlighted in one of our lecture series in 2010 - why don't you re-read her story and listen again to Deacon Sabatino's presentation?
To listen online, click here.
For other media options, click here.
To read her story, click here.
To listen online, click here.
For other media options, click here.
To read her story, click here.
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