Isaiah 22:19-23 / Romans 11:33-36 / Matthew 16:13-20
This coming Friday is a public holiday, but unlike other public holidays, there is something that we are required to do. We are required to cast our votes for the next President of Singapore.
So it means that we are called upon to choose a leader. Essentially that is what voting means.
When it comes to choosing a leader, the inclination is to choose someone who is most qualified and capable.
So the leadership qualities to be considered would be academic qualifications, status, experience, achievements, success and a respectable standing in life.
We would certainly want to choose someone that we have confidence in, as well as someone who will meet our requirements.
As for the candidate for the leadership role, what he or she says or promises the people will be scrutinized when he or she assumes the office.
That is generally how it goes in the secular world, and we are familiar with that.
In the gospel, we hear of a different structure and a different process.
When Jesus asked His disciples who do they say He is, it was Peter who declared that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
It was God who inspired Peter to make that declaration, and with that, Jesus appointed Peter to be, as we call it now, the first Pope.
By worldly standards, Peter, or for that matter of fact, the rest of the disciples, were hardly qualified or capable for any leadership role.
The appointment of Peter, which by secular standards, is questionable, says a lot about Jesus.
But it goes to show that in the Church, all power and authority that comes with the appointment, comes from God.
Jesus also promised that Peter will be the rock on which He will build His Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.
But throughout the history of the Church, there are numerous occasions when the Church, and the Pope, faced mortal danger and yet there was divine intervention.
One was in the year 452, when Attila the Hun and his barbaric horde came upon Rome to kill and to plunder.
Going out to meet him was the old and frail Pope Leo the Great, hoping to negotiate with Attila the Hun, and prepared to lay down his life for his people.
In an unexpected and surprising turn of events, Attila the Hun and his barbarians turn back and left Rome untouched.
One account has it that when Attila the Hun met the Pope, he saw two looming figures flanking the Pope, said to be Saint Peter and St Paul, and they were wielding swords and warning Attila.
He also saw a huge heavenly army behind the Pope, and he recoiled and immediately retreated.
So, on that day when he met Attila the Hun, Pope Leo showed that meekness is the mightiest of Heaven's powers.
And again, later on, the famous French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, once threatened the Church saying that in a few months he will destroy the Church.
The Pope's spokesman, replied: If in the 1800 years, we Catholics have failed to destroy the Church, do you really think that you will be able to do so?
Napoleon Bonaparte would later find out the answer after his defeat and during his exile.
It is often said that the Church is human, even too human, with the weakness, failings, scandals and whatever.
But it also must be said that the Church is divine, because Jesus Christ is the Head, and we are the members of His Body.
Yes, the Church, at all levels, has its flaws, it has failed, and it even has been faithless at times.
But let us remember that Jesus Christ is our Head, and He will protect us from the destructive power that comes out of the gates of the underworld.
Like Pope Leo the Great, who showed that meekness is the mightiest power from heaven, let us walk the path of simplicity, humility and charity.
Then we, the Church, will be able to lead the world in the way of salvation.