Please read the passage before the commentary.
Jesus gave to his Church the gift of unity and peace. He did this by establishing the Church upon the rock of Peter’s confession in Jesus as the Christ. There can be only one foundation for a building and it has to last as long as the building lasts. If the Church is to survive until Christ returns in glory, somehow the confession of Peter that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God must remain. Peter, however, has died, yet his confession about Christ remains. It remains in the Church as the body of Christ and it remains in the office of Peter.
There are signs in the New Testament that, after Peter’s death, some wanted to give the mantel of leadership to John. The last chapter of John’s gospel shows John’s disciples refusing to replace Peter. If there has to be one leader for the sake of unity, there has to be dereference given to one. John must aways be yielding to Peter.
Schism and heresy are both attacks on the unity of the Church. These attacks happen when one or other party sees the other as misusing positions of authority for personal or selfish gain. Leadership demands the truthfulness of humility.
It is so in our personal lives, our community lives, our national and religious lives. We all need the truthfulness of humility.
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