Significant Moments

The Branches

So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to 
receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. (Hebrews 4:16)

August 25, 2026

Hello Everyone –

“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19a)

The image of a key is a powerful one, isn’t it?

In your own life, you may recall experiences in relationship with keys — receiving the keys to your first home — giving the car keys to a teenager for the first time — entrusting someone with the key to your heart, poetically speaking. Significant moments.

Growing up — achieving a level of maturity — realizing a certain independence — these plus others are symbolized in the reception of keys — as well as the demand for continued growth and responsibility.

The symbol — and the reality — of being the holder of keys continues in the Gospel as we just heard:

“Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:19b)

As holder of the keys, Peter is placed in a position of trust. He is given the responsibility of opening the kingdom of heaven in sharp contrast to other leaders whom Jesus would address elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel by saying: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.” (Mt 23:13)

Peter cannot become a leader like that!

Jesus’s gesture of offering the keys to Peter is less about what kind of rock he is — and more about the Lord’s regard for Peter’s potential — and human potential in general. It is less about Peter’s faith in Christ and more about Christ’s faith in him. The Lord accepts him as he is, trusts him, and is ready to let him grow into the kingdom of God. Throughout Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is often critical of persons and institutions — but he does not write them off. He continues to trust their potential.

Our Catholic Tradition is founded on such moments of challenge and promise as we see recounted in Matthew’s Gospel. It is not so much Peter’s checkered history or, for that matter, the checkered history of the Church — or of the papacy over the ages that is at issue. It is instead God’s fidelity to human beings and God’s insistence that human beings can be trusted to carry out God’s will.

Peter’s unworthiness is not the core of the story. The consistency or inconsistency of his rock-solidness is not the bottom line.

Almost in spite of himself, Jesus gives Peter the “keys to the kingdom of heaven.” God entrusts human beings and human institutions with the opportunity and responsibility to unlock for others the kingdom of heaven — to invite people into a place where healing and reconciliation can be found — where love and mercy can be celebrated — where a festive table is set. Only in time will Peter discover what it fully means to shoulder that key.

In a real sense, we all have been given keys to the kingdom of heaven. All of us possess the potential to open certain doors and to close others — to bind up wounds — to loose from fear and guilt — to invite others to share the feast that we have already begun to taste.

As I do for you, please pray for me,

Most Reverend Jeffrey S. Grob
Archbishop of Milwaukee