The 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, August 23, 2026
St. James Cathedral

Watch this homily! (begins at 23:10)

 
My friends, in today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus continue to teach his disciples, and us, about the Kingdom and the Church.  I would like to reflect on three elements that emerge from today’s passage.
 
First, how Jesus calls us to a personal relationship with him; second, on his assurance that his community of followers will prevail against evil; and third, that the Church can be a sure guide for those who respond to his call.
 
First, how Jesus calls us to a personal relationship with him. The first time I consciously remember entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was on a Confirmation retreat when I was 15 years old. Something changed for me on that retreat.
 
Through various guided activities, I really had an encounter with the Lord. It was an affirming encounter and began a friendship with Jesus that changed my life. I’ve often seen that experience as my hearing Jesus say to me, “Who do you say that I am?” and me responding that he is my companion on the journey, my Lord, the one in whom I can trust.
 
Peter’s answer to that question in today’s Gospel changed his life and the path of history. He would have to grow into his understanding of his confession that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” There would be ups and downs, especially in Jerusalem, when Jesus needed him most, and Peter denied him.
 
Peter learned, as do all disciples of Jesus, that the answer to the question, “Who do you say that I am?” is not a one and done question that we answer. Just like Peter, we have ups and downs and we have to grow in our understanding of, and our relationship with, Jesus.
 
That encounter I had on my Confirmation retreat was life-changing. But, it was only one step in a long journey, that continues to this day, of responding to Jesus’ call to a personal relationship with him - to trust him, more and more, to show me who he is and the way to follow him.
 
I thought of this first encounter last week during our choir camp for children and young people. How many of those children and young people, and even the adults on the team encountered Jesus for the first time, or in a renewed way?
 
What about you? What’s your experience of hearing Jesus ask you that question? Going back and reflecting on our first encounter with him can often times re-ignite our faith. Is that what you need today? Who do you say that he is?
 
Second, Jesus reassures Peter that his community of followers will be built on such a rock solid foundation that evil will not prevail against it. That rock solid foundation is Peter himself. Yes, the same Peter who will falter, but will ultimately give his life so that the Good News prevails. If all we knew was of Peter’s denial and Jesus’ crucifixion, then we could easily conclude that evil did indeed prevail.
 
Just like if all we had to examine about the life of the Church were our various scandals and failures, we would conclude that evil has triumphed. But, in both cases, with the perspective that is longer, broader and deeper, we can see how over time, through ups and downs, through sin and brokenness, the community of faith has prevailed against evil and has advanced the Kingdom of God.
 
Through the faithful lives of the followers of Jesus overcoming evil in their own journey of faith, we come to see that even though we fall, the Lord picks us up and assures us that the fall does not define us. Evil has not triumphed in our lives nor in the life of the Church.
 
The Church continues to confront evil in the world and to be a voice for the vulnerable, and for peace in a world that seems addicted to violence and the disregard for human life. And as difficult as things seem to be at times, evil has not triumphed.
 
In Peter’s life, and in the life of the community of faith, Jesus’ promise that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it remains as rock solid as it did when he first spoke those words 2000 year ago.
 
Do we trust that assurance today or have we allowed the darkness in our world and in our own lives to tempt us into seeing everything as a mess and wondering if evil has triumphed? If so, maybe today is a good opportunity to widen and broaden our vision of God’s work in the world and in our own lives.
 
Third, we don’t strive to live as a community of the Lord’s disciples, as the Church, without the assurance of Jesus’ guiding presence. When Jesus says to Peter, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,” he is using a term that rabbis used to describe the work of interpreting the scriptures and setting rules for the community.
 
As the successor of St. Peter, Pope Leo has the responsibility to be of service to the whole community of faith, to bind and loose, that is, to interpret the Lord’s call for this particular place and time. Peter is given the keys of the kingdom, and his successors have been given the ministry of leadership and have been called to exercise that ministry in service to the Church and the world.
 
Do you and I treasure this role of the Holy Father or do we see him as just one more political figure, one more voice among many? Does his interpretation of what the Lord is calling us to take precedence or do we simply like him or dislike him depending on whether he agrees with us on particular issues in the life of the Church and the world?
 
If so, today is an opportunity to re-set our understanding and appreciation of the role of the Papacy in our lives, in the life of the Church, and in the life of the world. If we tend to either canonize or demonize a particular Pope because of how he fits our way of seeing things, perhaps its time to remember that amidst all the political wrangling in our Church, we believe the Holy Spirit guides us through the ministry of the Holy Father.
 
My friends, Jesus does call us to a personal relationship with him; he does assure us that his community of followers will prevail against evil, and, that the Church, through the ministry of the successor of St. Peter, can be a sure guide for those who respond to his call.
 
I encourage us to take some time this week to assess where we are with these three elements that emerge from today’s scriptures. Perhaps we need to re-ignite our personal relationship with the Lord; or to be re-grounded in the trust that all the evil around us, and even in us, will not prevail; or that we need to be more attentive to the voice and teaching of the Holy Father as he interprets, in the name of the Lord, our current life in the Church and in the world.
 
May our sharing in the Body of and Blood of Christ today build up our personal relationship with him and deepen our trust in his guiding presence in our lives as his Kingdom continues to break forth in our world.

Father Gary F. Lazzeroni