Within every Mass we hear these or similar words expressed within the Eucharistic Prayer: "together with your servant Francis our Pope and Richard our Bishop, and all those, who holding to the truth, hand on the catholic and apostolic faith." These are most important of words to hear within the Mass because they remind us of the unity that is found within the Church as is expressed through the Holy Eucharist. It is of no mistake that this petition is made within the Eucharistic Prayer because it is here that Christ comes to dwell with us within the Holy Eucharist and through this Eucharistic sacrifice we as a body of many are shown to be of one faith and mind. This petition found within every Eucharistic Prayer expresses this great reality to us because we are unified in our belief through our bishops and through the Holy Father. It is up to these individuals to be guided by the truth of the Holy Spirit and to preserve for us what has been taught by Christ our Lord.
In our Gospel Christ bestows upon Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the moment when Christ was prepared for the events of His own passion which would soon unfold and realized that He needed to establish on this earth a leader who would preserve His teachings and help to spread the faith throughout the world. It was at this moment that Peter became the first pope of the Church and from this moment forward would come a total of 265 successors. Peter of course was not alone in spreading this message throughout the face of the earth, but he was joined by the other 11 apostles who would help to spread the faith and eventually would come more bishops who would rise up with their death in order to stand unified with the pope. Through the unity that is found through our bishops, through the teaching of the pope, and which is expressed to us through the Holy Eucharist may we remember that in all things we should be drawn into a closer relationship with Christ.
Christ did not call Peter to become the fist pope of the Church because He was without sin. We must remember that prior to this event Peter walked into the sea and he sunk due to his lack of faith. Following this moment in scripture He would go onto deny the possibility that Christ would be willing to die upon the cross and we all remember that he would go onto deny Him three times. The other eleven also join with Peter, not in perfection, but despite their lack of perfection they were called to be unified in their faith and thus to also grow in holiness. Christ had the desire that Peter would come to follow Him more closely. Christ also had the desire that His own apostles would come to know and to love Him more intimately. In their unity of faith placed within Christ they would be able to come to this understanding and all this growth would take place inside of their life. In the unity of faith that was expressed through their ministry they grew in their understanding and their love for God.
May we also join with them in growing in our own unity with Christ. Christ does not desire for us to walk about as if we are lost without anything to attach ourselves to. Christ desires that we will each come to follow Him more closely. Christ also desires that we will come to love Him more intimately. The more that we allow ourselves to be unified in our faith; the more we are growing in our love for God. The Eucharist that we will receive today, if worthy, is the reality of this great unity. From the Second Vatican Council's document Lumen Gentium"As often as the sacrifice of the cross in which Christ our Passover was sacrificed, is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried on, and, in the sacrament of the eucharistic bread, the unity of all believers who form one body in Christ is both expressed and brought about. All men are called to this union with Christ, who is the light of the world, from whom we go forth, through whom we live, and toward whom our whole life strains."
Indeed may we allow ourself to grow in the unity that is found within the Eucharist because it is only here where we will allow ourself to follow after Christ and to love Him more intimately. May we remember always to pray for our holy father, for all bishops, and for all the clergy that they may abandon any selfishness to only proclaim faithfully the Gospel that was proclaimed by Christ. May all the lay faithful of the Church also grow in this expression of faith that is found through the unity of the Eucharist. It will be here that we will be able to look Christ into the eye with the desire to follow after Him instead of the many false voices that exist within the world that divide us instead of unify us as one body of believers. In this manner we will truly begin to love Christ in a more intimate way. May we each continue to live this love through what we encounter through the unity of our faith as is expressed within the great gift that is the Holy Eucharist.
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