By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
In the Gospel of Holy Mass on a recent Sunday we heard again the beautiful and consoling words by which the Lord consigns a gift to Peter and his Successors for the benefit of us all: the “Keys of the Kingdom.”
We learn that these “keys” open the doors of Heaven to us because of the grace of the sacramental life made possible through Christ in the Church.
Many of us have seen the papal coat of arms on the flags which adorn our church sanctuaries and often in connection with Vatican City and our Holy Father in the media. The Gospel teaching of Christ is the source of this symbol of the office of Pope: two crossed keys.
This symbol employed by Christ signifies the power to forgive sins shared by every priest and the ministry of strengthening all of us in the faith through the ministry of the Popes.
In the Church we are able to have our sins forgiven, “unbound,” through the ministry of Peter and of all men who share the priesthood with him. Thus, the priesthood which Christ confers through apostolic succession is a source of supernatural life.
How tremendous is this gift of the “keys” and how very important it is to share as often as possible in the gift through the life of the Church.
Supernatural life, the grace of eternal life or salvation, is important, we all agree. But it would not do us any good without a prior gift: natural life. So, there is another gift that must be conferred first, that made possible through our parents: They are “key” to the process by which children gain access to the Kingdom in Christ.
Parents give life: because they do, they come only after God in importance for children on earth, and thus have a powerful role leading them to God through the indispensable witness they provide by all they do. The most important way is by worshiping together with them on the Lord’s Day.
We have seen in recent days the unbreakable faith of Catholics and other Christians in Iraq and other places in the Middle East. Parents have led their children into exile away from the safety and security of their homes and everything familiar in order to lead them to the Lord. Threatened with forced conversion or death, parents are bearing hardships together with their children in order to remain faithful to Heaven on earth.
These parents are also a kind of “key of the Kingdom” who enable their children to receive the gifts of the Lord.
All of our families face challenges to the faith which must be overcome by the leadership of our parents if our children are to know and love the Lord by practicing their faith throughout life. Parents are keys to the life of the Kingdom when they:
Lead their children to Sunday Mass despite distractions, opportunities to work, and childish disobedience;
Ensure that their children receive adequate education through Faith Formation;
Get to Confession regularly, at a minimum in case of mortal sin;
Offer prayers in the home, grounded in and leading to eucharistic devotion and reception on Sundays, holy days, and at other times.
James Foley, the journalist who was brutally killed by evil men by beheading in Iraq and whose dignity was further violated by a release of the execution video on the Internet, testified to the importance of the example of faith by parents and grandparents throughout his life.
James was inspired to pray the rosary during a period of earlier captivity, because of the example of his parents and grandparents who had taught him to pray it. His natural relationship with these witnesses of faith were key to acceptance of the Kingdom for James in a most difficult period when he did not have access to the ordinary means of grace, through Peter and apostolic succession, as all of us have through the Holy Mass, Confession, and the other sacraments.
He described the experience of following the example of his family by praying:
“If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom first and later the miracle of being released during a war in which the regime had no real incentive to free us. It didn’t make sense, but faith did.”
Faith always makes sense: first as taught by our parents, the “first and most important teachers in the ways of faith” and throughout life for mature adult Catholics.
Let us pray for and support all of our parents, the natural “keys of the Kingdom” for all of our children and families.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
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(Follow Fr. Cusick on Facebook at Reverendo Padre-Kevin Michael Cusick and on Twitter @MCITLFrAphorism. Father blogs at APriestLife.blogspot.com and mcitl.blogspot.com and you can email him at mcitl.blogspot.com@gmail.com.)
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