Father Robert Barron does such a fantastic job of
describing the role and importance of the Pope in his series “Catholicism.” With all the media attention and discussion
of the Papacy, it seemed a fitting time to post on that topic. The Pope provides the Church with a living
voice of authority, to allow the life of the Church to evolve without turning
into bickering over slight matters. Just
as an umpire serves a pivotal role in a baseball game, so does the Pope. A baseball game would quickly spiral out of
control if onlookers, players, or coaches were allowed to call the baseball
game. The game would turn into bickering
and fighting and little would be accomplished.
The umpire has the voice of authority and keeps things moving fluidly. The Papacy functions in the same capacity, in
which the Pope functions as the living voice of authority so as to prevent the
Church from quickly evolving into bickering and fighting and little being
accomplished.
Saint Peter was given the
keys to the Kingdom by Jesus, and the Pope is called to maintain that position
of authority. Certainly we have heard
many discussion being had on the rigid nature of the Church and her “failure”
to conform to modern society. Father
Barron has a great way of describing this lack of flexibility in falling prey
to the “whims” of society. Saint Peter
was given the key to the Kingdom. Think
for a moment about how you would describe a key. A key is not flexible and changing, otherwise
it would no longer serve its purpose in being able to open a particular
lock. A key must be strong and rigid in
order to maintain its form and function to be able to open that lock. The same can be applied to the Church. While ideas change and evolve based on changing
perspectives, the key must still maintain its original form and function. While the Church must be a light to the
nations, it cannot allow itself to fall prey to the ever changing whims of
society and social norms.
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