21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) - 23 August 2026
23rd August 2026
“The hope that sustains her [the Church] is unshakable, and the joy which flows from the hope is indestructible.” - Pope St John Paul II
A reflection on today's Gospel taken from an excerpt of a sermon by Pope St Leo the Great (Sermo 4 de natali ipsius, 2-3: PL 54, 149-151) on the chair or teaching authority of St. Peter:
Out of the whole world one man, Peter, is chosen to preside at the calling of all nations, and to be set over all the apostles and all the fathers of the Church. Though there are in God’s people many shepherds, Peter is thus appointed to rule in his own person those whom Christ also rules as the original ruler.
Beloved, how great and wonderful is this sharing of His power that God in His goodness has given to this man. Whatever Christ has willed to be shared in common by Peter and the other leaders of the Church, it is only through Peter that He has given to others what He has not refused to bestow on them.
The Lord now asks the apostles as a whole what men think of Him. As long as they are recounting the uncertainty born of human ignorance, their reply is always the same. But when He presses the disciples to say what they think themselves, the first to confess his faith in the Lord is the one who is first in rank among the apostles.
Peter says: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replies: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.” You are blessed, He means, because My Father has taught you. You have not been deceived by earthly opinion, but have been enlightened by inspiration from heaven. It was not flesh and blood that pointed Me out to you, but the One Whose only-begotten Son I am.
He continues: And I say to you. In other words, as My Father has revealed to you My godhead, so I in My turn make known to you your pre-eminence. You are Peter: though I am the inviolable rock, the cornerstone that makes both one, the foundation apart from which no one can lay any other, yet you also are a rock, for you are given solidity by My strength, so that which is My very own because of My power is common between us through your participation.
And upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. On this strong foundation, He says, I will build an everlasting temple. The great height of My Church, which is to penetrate the heavens, shall rise on the firm foundation of this faith.
The gates of hell shall not silence this confession of faith; the chains of death shall not bind it. Its words are the words of life. As they lift up to heaven those who profess them, so they send down to hell those who contradict them.
Blessed Peter is therefore told: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth is also bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.
The authority vested in this power passed also to the other apostles, and the institution established by this decree has been continued in all the leaders of the Church. But it is not without good reason that what is bestowed on all is entrusted to one. For Peter received it separately in trust because he is the prototype set before all the rulers of the Church.
Prayer for the Holy Father from Fr Lawrence Lovasik's Treasury of Prayers, 1954
Jesus, Supreme Pontiff of the New and Eternal Testament, Thou art seated at the right hand of God as a perpetual Advocate for us and are pleased to be for all time with Thy beloved spouse the Church and with Thy vicar who governs her. Divine Prince of the pastors of Thy flock, You have deigned to place on the throne of Peter Thy servant and Pontiff, Pope (Leo). Make him, in the midst of the wickedness of our times, mild in hostile attacks, strong in the defense of the faith, and a gentle father and watchful master in the pastoral office.
May Thy Kingdom come, Immortal King of the ages! May the truth, which Thou hast brought from Heaven, reach even to the ends of the earth. May the fire which Thou willest to be cast upon the earth inflame all hearts. This is the desire that is in the heart of Thy vicar: a desire to reconcile all men to Thee; a desire for concord and forgiveness among nations; a desire for justice and peace.
Jesus, enlighten Thy vicar. Strengthen him in his sorrows and in his universal cares. Speak that powerful word, O Lord, which shall change minds, turn hate into love, check the fury of human passions, temper the sufferings, and dry the tears of those who are in sorrow. Increase the virtue and the resignation of families and pacify nations and peoples so that the Church built by Thee on Saint Peter to gather all people around Thine altar of life and salvation, may invoke Thee, adore Thee, and exalt Thee in peace forever. Amen.