THE  KEY!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, is, “The Key!”

Key: just a 3 letter word – one that is simple, clear, and a word we use and hear often. Key ….

·       “Does anyone have an extra key?”

·       “The key to the problem is …”

·       “The key to success is …”

·       “The key to a man’s heart is …”

·       “The key to a woman’s heart is …”

·       “What should I key in on?”

We get the reality. We know what a key is.  We get the metaphor. We know what the image signifies.

When you hear the word, “key,” what pops into your mind? Any memories? A lost key…. A found key…. The first time your dad handed you the keys to the car. 

I remember one of the first books we were presented with in our novitiate for growth in spirituality: Keys to the Third Floor, by Philip Dion. Later on I noticed the same title to a Super Mario computer game.

Once I learned something by accident – something I never heard in pastoral counseling classes. It’s this: when you’re sitting with one person who wants to talk to a priest and they take out their car keys – they want to get out of there. It’s obvious – but it took me a while to realize that. If people do that during homilies, I still haven’t seen that. Smile.

Keys: someone recently told me that a boss said, “The number of keys a person has is in reverse proportion to the amount of power they have.”

Is that true? I don’t know. I have to think about it. I have to ask others if they agree with that.

Key: something that opens a door or gate or closet or cabinet or desk drawer.

Key meaning:  clue, cue, secret, hint, lead,  tip-off, crack, opening, sign, signal, door, unwrap, unblock, uncover, unlock, explain, expose, interpret, translate, solve, spell-out, clear up, shed light on, decipher, indicate,  earmark, differentiate, feature….

Key….

COMMON EXPERIENCES

We’ve all had the experience of being locked out. We’ve all felt left out of conversations and decisions at times. We’ve all experienced locked doors and gates and rooms. It might be we’re trying to move up in a company or a government job. It might be trying to get a job in the first place – and we just don’t know why we’re not being hired. What's the key that I'm missing? Or it might be a group we’d like to be a member of – and nope - we feel ignored or locked or blocked out.

We’ve all had the experience of trying to figure out, “What’s really going on here?” We’ve wondered – “How do I reach my teenage daughter or my 22 year old son?” We’ve wondered: “How do I get to first base with this person?”  “How do I get so and so to open up the door?” "Or open up their mind or heart?"  We don’t have a key…. or a clue what to do. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

TODAY’S   READINGS

To come up with a homily for this Sunday, I do what I always do: read the readings out loud and look for a key to the readings.

The first thought that hit me from today’s readings was from the gospel - Matthew 16: 13-20. It's the question Christ asks each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?”

If you want to go that way, you will have a really good key question to wrestle with this week.

This week ask yourself: “Who is Christ to me?” Have I changed my answers to that question down through the years?  Getting to know Christ is to enter into the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God – as Paul puts it in today’s second reading - from Romans 11: 33-36. And listen to how Paul concludes today’s short second reading: “For from him and through him and for him are all things.”

That’s one homily thought….

Then I saw a second homily thought in the second half of today’s gospel. After Simon Peter answers Jesus’ question on who he was – by saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,”Jesus says to Peter amongst other things, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

To have the keys is be the one who is in charge – to be the papa – the father figure – the pope – the boss. 

Notice statues of Peter.

When people get to Rome, they visit the big basilica of St. Peter’s. On the right we’ll spot the big dark bronze statue of Peter. He has keys in his hands – but most notice his right foot. Compared to his left foot – which is back a tiny bit and you can still see the individual toes – the right foot is worn smooth. The tradition is to rub it or kiss this 13^th century statue – perhaps by Arnolfo di Cabio.

If you can’t get to Rome,  check out our dark wooden mahogany communion rail which has all the apostles. Some have with missing limbs and symbols – probably from cleaning and being bumped down through the years.  Peter is right down there just off the center – the one with the key in one hand and a book in the other.Notice that his right foot is visible – with all his toes. I’ve never saw anybody rubbing or kissing it. That would be too tricky - and it's kind of dusty. His left foot can’t be seen – probably a practical trick by a sculptor or carver.

And we hear that same message about receiving the key to the house in today’s first reading as well. Isaiah says of Eliakim, son of Hilkial, “I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.” [Cf. Isaiah 22: 19-23.]

Matthew’s gospel tell us that Peter was told by Jesus, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

To me this is a key church text – because it’s evidence that Peter has the first place  in the church between 80 and 90. Those are the dates scholars place the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew comes after Mark’s Gospel [64-69], but before the year 110,  because Ignatius of Antioch knows of the Gospel of Matthew – and he’s as early as 110.[1]

So for starters a second homily thought for today is how we see not just Christ, but also how we see the pope.  A key to Christianity  - at least according to the Catholic Church – is how we see the Pope. Who do you say the pope is?  And then his successors. So starting with Peter, our first pope or papa, there have been 266 popes.

Looking at that list of 266, there have been some winners and some losers, some saints and some sinners, some scholars and some soldiers.

Number 266 – Pope Francis seems to be doing well. I’ve only read one life of him so far: Pope Francis, Untying the Knots – by Paul Vallely. On the cover is a review from the British Catholic Magazine, the Tablet: “Read this book, forget the rest.”

Having written lots of obituaries, having preached at lots of funerals, having met lots of people, it’s my experience – that it’s difficult – very difficult -  to answer the question: “Who do you say, I am?”

When it comes to Christ I can answer the question from the scriptures and the creeds and prayer. But I know my answer will be very different from the day I meet Jesus Christ, please God, in eternity when I die.

What this pope is like – or any pope is like – is a very difficult question to answer.

Who would know him: his family, people he has worked with, who? Who would know the key to understanding his personality?

Paul Vallely in his biography of Francis - makes the point that a key to understanding is his strong interest in a painting of Mary - entitled "Mary Untier of Knots." When he spotted that painting - he was handed a key to himself - that he was the type of person who needed to untie a lot of knots. [2] 

So that leads me to my third and final point for the homily

START WITH SELF

Before answering the questions – whom we think Christ is, whom we think a pope is, perhaps sit down this week and answer the question: who do I say I am?

What are the key ingredients that make me up? What have been the key moments of my life? Whom have been the key people in my life?

After doing that – ask spouse or family or a close friend – one to one: “What do your think are the keys to me?” “What do you see makes me tick?”  “What the keys to open me up – and see what’s happening inside?”

Some answers might hurt? Some answers might be wrong? Some answers might be challenging? Some answers might be eye openers? Some answers might be life changers?

And maybe someone in return might ask right back at us, the question Jesus asks in today’s gospel, “Who do you say, I am?”

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “The Key.”

If you don’t have your keys in your hands right now, maybe there’s a key to some deeper spiritual growth here in this homily. Amen.

NOTES

[1]  Benedict T. Viviano, O.P, "The Gospel According to Matthew," in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 631

[2] Paul Vallely, Pope Francis Untying the Knots, pages ix -xii