Fontgombault Homily for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul: "Knowing is not enough. Proclaiming is not enough. We have to offer our own life for Christ."

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Father Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, June 29, 2021

Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam. 

 Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church. (Mt 16:18)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
My dearly beloved Sons,

Acknowledging Christ, this is the concern for truth that seems to prompt the question the Lord asks of His apostles, and especially of Peter, who answers it in the name of all. The answer is not that obvious, as witnessed by the various opinions several disciples report concerning the Son of man’s identity: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremy, or one of the prophets. Acknowledging the Son of man also means appropriating a mission. St. Peter’s confession in Caesarea marks a milestone in the progressive revelation Christ makes of His imminent Passion and resurrection:

From that time, Jesus began to shew to His disciples, that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again. (Mt 16:21)

 

Confessing what the Son of man is, is not sufficient, and Peter has yet to understand it. Despite the fact that he proclaims Christ’s divinity, “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God!” (Mt 16:16), Peter doesn’t seem to be ready to follow the path the Lord is showing him. He doesn’t under-stand the Lord’s mission, and consequently, he won’t be able to accept his own mission, in the Christ’s footsteps. Faced with the scandal of the Cross, Peter rebels, takes Christ aside, and forcefully rebukes Him:

Fontgombault Sermon for St Peter & St Paul: "The times in which we live are not worse than the first years in the life of the Church. It is faith that we are lacking."

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, June 29, 2019

Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam

Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church.

Mt 16:18

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

The readings of today’s Mass place us before a great mystery: in order to come towards men, God wishes to make use of mediations. He comes to us through Christ’s humanity, through the sacraments, and especially the sacrament of the Eucharist. He comes to us through the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her divine motherhood, and in this unique motherhood she exercises on each of us, and which she has received at the foot of the Cross: “Woman, behold thy son… Behold thy mother.”(Jn 19:26-27) God also comes to us through the Church, pure and without blemish.

Beneath these perfect mediations, God wishes to make use of other mediations. We should be for one another mediators of the grace of God. God builds up our spiritual being by taking our neighbors on as associates. It is an honor for them. We should do the same. How could we refuse such a “service”? Amidst these imperfect mediations, a special place is assigned to the mediation of Peter, the chief of the Apostles, who is still at work today through his successors: “Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church.”

Fontgombault Sermon for the Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul: Love, in Truth, and without Compromise with the World

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, June 29, 2018

O God, Who hast made holy this day by the martyrdom of Thine Apostles Peter and Paul: grant unto Thy Church that, as from them she first received the faith, so she may in all things follow their precepts.(Collect)…

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

The Church, and especially the Church in Rome, has never accepted to separate those two pillars, the Apostles Peter and Paul; and to such an extent that in the first centuries of Christendom, the Pope, after he had celebrated Mass in the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter, would go to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to celebrate there a second Mass. Such a solemnity did emphasise the fact that it is the preaching of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul that the Church of Rome regards as her sole principle, and the foundation of her authority.

Yet, we have to acknowledge that these two men were very different, both in origin and training. 

Simon, whom Jesus called Peter, is an inhabitant of Capernaum, in the province of Galilee, and a fisherman on the Tiberias Lake. He’s a man who has learnt how to fight the forces of nature, to confront unexpected weathers, a concrete and artless man. He’s generous, he answers right away the calling of the Lord, he immediately leaves his nets, and follows Him. 

St. Paul is a Jew from the Diaspora, of Tarsus in Cilicia. He’s a member of the party of the Pharisees. Also, he’s a Roman citizen. After he has encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, he turns from a persecutor of Christians into a fervent and tireless propagator of the faith.

De Mattei: When public correction of a pope is urgent and necessary

Roberto de Mattei

Corrispondenza Romana

February 22, 2017

May a Pope be publicly corrected for his reprehensible behaviour? Or should the attitude of the faithful be that of unconditional obedience, until the point of justifying anything the Pope’s says and does, even if  openly scandalous? According to some, like the Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli, it is possible to express “tète a tète” one’s dissent to the Pope, without, however, manifesting it publicly. This thesis nonetheless, contains an important admission. The Pope is not infallible, unless he speaks ex cathedra. Otherwise it would not be licit to dissent even privately and the path to follow would only be that of religious silence.  On the other hand, the Pope, who is not Christ, but only his representative on earth, can sin and make mistakes. Yet, is it true that he may only be corrected privately and never publicly?