How Catholics view the Role of the Pope

Welcome to the Saint Coleman Catholic Church podcast from Pompano Beach. Be sure to follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that you can be notified every time we release a new episode from Saint Coleman. Welcome to episode 68 of the Saint Coleman Catholic Parish podcast. We hope you're having a wonderful summer. It's already time for us to be thinking about preparing children for the sacraments.

And that's why we're excited to let you know that our religious education program is now open. You can find all of the information on our website at saint coleman dot org, and we have our sacramental preparation classes, which is for children in first and second grades, preparing them for first holy communion. And we have our confirmation preparation classes, which are for, children in seventh and eighth grades, but we also have classes for third, fourth, and fifth graders. And this is wonderful for you to continue to have your children in our program, between the sacramental preparation years to strengthen their faith. Also, our annual OCIA program is going to be starting up in a few weeks.

This is for adults 18 years and older who are they really fall into three categories. Non Catholics, who wanna find out more about our faith. Then we had people who were already baptized but not Catholic, and they want to come into what we call full communion of the Catholic church, make a profession of faith. And finally, the last group that that this preparation program is for is for people who may have been baptized Catholics when they were children, but they never finished their sacraments of initiation. They may not have first communion or certainly don't have confirmation.

And so we want everyone to receive all of the sacraments of initiation, which are baptism, first holy communion, and confirmation. OCIA is a great way for people in any of these groups to move towards confirmation in the Catholic church. If you're interested in OCIA or know somebody who is, check our website, or, also, you can call the office and get an application. Later this week, the Saint Coleman Women's Club is having their July social. That's gonna be at Brendon's Sports Pub, and that's from five to seven on Thursday.

We're looking for more people to join the Saint Coleman's Choir. We have a dynamic choir group. And if you check our bulletin, there's a QR code that you can scan that'll take you right to more information about how to join the choir. You know, it's only been a couple of months since the College of Cardinals elected an American pope, Leo the fourteenth. Now anytime a new person ascends to the chair of Saint Peter, there's great interest, not only in the Catholic world, but the entire world.

People know something big is happening. But at least here in The United States, this changing of the guard has taken on new meaning because we see something that we never thought we'd see before. Someone born in The United States becoming the leader of over a billion Catholics here on planet Earth. As Catholics, we are called to pray for the pope each and every day for his intentions. You know, our theology on the papacy begins in the gospel of Saint Matthew.

There's a pivotal verse in Matthew sixteen sixteen and the verses that follow. Simon Peter boldly declares that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God, fulfilling Jewish expectations of a divine savior. And in response, Jesus proclaims Peter as the rock upon which he will build his church, granting him the keys to the kingdom of heaven and the authority to bind and loose on earth and in heaven. Now earlier this year, we celebrated what's called the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. It usually happens, or it does happen, every year in February.

And that, of course, celebrates the foundational role that Peter has in the establishment of the church Christ founded. But since we just had someone take the seat of Saint Peter, we thought it was a good time to think about these things again. When we think about the chair of Saint Peter, we think about the fact that the pope has the authority to bind and to loose, and that it extends to the College of the Apostles, who were all united under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome. This apostolic office continues today through the bishops around the world who operate under the primacy of the pope, the successor of Saint Peter. Together, they ensure the church's unity and continuity.

But what does this mean for you and me in our everyday lives? What does Matthew sixteen sixteen and the words that come after it, how does that affect us? Well, here's a few practical things to think about. As I mentioned before, Catholics are called to honor and revere the holy father, the pope, through daily prayers for his help, his guidance, and his intentions, because we recognize him as the visible head of the church. We want him to succeed.

Second, obedience to bishops as the successors of the apostles is essential. As Catholics, we listen to our local bishop, their teachings. They are the chief catechists in our lives. The bishop, in our case, the archbishop, is the chief catechist of the archdiocese, and our pastor is the chief catechist of our parish. We should listen to them.

Next, we need to make sure that we're adhering to the doctrines and the dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pretty soon, in just a few weeks, we're going to be celebrating a very special day, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was assumed into heaven body and soul at the conclusion of her earthly life. Again, this is a truth that we believe because it has been proclaimed by the church's teaching authority. And all that traces back to when Jesus proclaims Peter as the rock upon which he will build his church, grants him the keys to the kingdom of heaven and earth, the authority to bind and loose. Also, think about the sacrament of penance.

It is part of this binding and loosing authority given to Peter. You and I, when we approach confession, we go to receive God's mercy and to restore our relationship with him. This falls under that authority that the church has to absolve us from our sins. We really are blessed to be Catholic, to have such a visible presence in front of us in the parish, but also in the church's very broad and rich spiritual treasury. Think about all the ways we can enhance our spiritual lives.

All the devotions like the rosary, novenas, different things that the church prescribes for our spiritual growth. Again, all these practices are rooted in the authority that Jesus Christ granted to Peter. So in the coming weeks and years, we're gonna be asked as Catholics, probably all of us, something about this new pope. He's a young guy for someone ascending to the throne of Saint Peter. He'll be around a long time.

And so at some point, we're gonna be asked, whether it's tomorrow or five years from now, somebody is gonna ask us about our faith. And it's gonna be an opportunity for us to share our faith, to give an account of why we believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church. Let's continue to prepare ourselves to give a good witness by attending mass every Sunday, by praying for the priests that serve our communities, by praying for our archbishop, by praying for the pope, and by taking advantage of all the wonderful ways we can grow in the church, receiving communion, going to penance, going to adoration, reading about the lives of the saints. We have such a rich treasury. We're very blessed to be Catholic.

And more people are going to be asking us about our faith in the future. Let's be prepared to encourage them to seek God through the one holy Catholic and apostolic church. Thanks for listening to the Saint Coleman Catholic Church podcast. If you wanna be notified every time we release a new episode, you can follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And be sure to spread the word about our parish podcast.