Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands. (Psalm 138)
In the Gospel today, Jesus confers the keys of the kingdom of heaven upon Peter, while declaring him the rock upon which he will build his Church. Jesus accompanies these words with the promise that the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.
Jesus was speaking over 2,000 years ago and his Church has endured many storms and assaults in the intervening years; but endured it has. The present century, especially in the affluent West, has presented many challenges to the institutional Church but Jesus’ promises still hold true.
