The Good Shepherd has appointed a Vicar on earth to serve the flock of today, the universal Church."Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: 'I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' (Mt 16:19) The 'power of the keys' designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: 'Feed my sheep.' (Jn 21:15-17; cf. 10:11) The power to 'bind and loose' connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom."
-- CCC 553
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy offers a reflection for Dominica II Post Pascha.
(Art: Pietro Perugino, Christ Handing the Keys to St Peter, 1481-82 Fresco, 335 x 550 cm,
Cappella Sistina, Vaticano.)
