Say it Boldy

“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” // Matthew 16:18

His hands were soft, and he was wearing an ivory colored sweatshirt with frayed cuffs under his white cassock. There I stood, staring into the eyes of Pope Francis, holding his warm, wrinkled hand. And as my heart beat rapidly and I stumbled over my greeting, handing him a pair of socks with his face on them, a LEGO pope minifigure in a LEGO popemobile, and a letter from my six-year-old daughter, he smiled widely and said softly, “Please pray for me.”

I was talking to the consummate Catholic grandpa and holding the hand of the successor of Saint Peter all at once, and in that moment, the words etched into the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica and heard in the Gospel today—“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church”—echoed in my mind (Matthew 16:18).

Here was Peter. The 266th “Peter” we’ve had, an unbroken line of succession established by Jesus Himself, to guide, protect, defend, and shape our Church, the servant of the servants of God. And it all began in a moment when the first Peter, Simon Peter himself, seemed to doubt what Jesus was even saying.

We hear in the Gospel today (see Matthew 16:13-23) how Jesus asks His disciples to share what they understand of Him, and Peter is able to proclaim Him the Christ. Boldly, and without delay, he then proclaims Jesus as the Son of God. This, in the end, is at the heart of discipleship, and the call to us all, not just the pope. All of us are invited to say confidently that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that He loves us beyond compare and without end.

Can we say that boldly? Can we say that without hesitation? Do we?

As I held the Holy Father’s hand, and looked at his wrinkled face and warm smile, I was reminded that he is the Rock, in the line of succession from Peter himself, and that he is guiding me, and inviting us all, to confidently say that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.