👑St. Linus, the first successor of St. Peter, governed the Church during a period of intense persecution, from approximately 67 to 76 AD. Mentioned by St. Paul in his second letter to Timothy (4:21), his life is a testament to the uninterrupted continuity of the apostolic primacy. As the first link in the chain of papal succession after the Prince of the Apostles, St. Linus consolidated the structure of the nascent Church in Rome, ordaining the first bishops and establishing liturgical norms. His martyrdom by beheading sealed with blood the faith he so diligently shepherded. St. Irenaeus of Lyons, in his work "Against Heresies," attests to his importance by stating: "The blessed apostles [Peter and Paul], then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate."
🚪Introit (Jn 21:15, 16, 17 | Ps 29:2)If you love Me, Simon Peter, feed my lambs, feed my sheep... I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me. ℣. Glory be to the Father.
📜Epistle (I Pet 5:1-4, 10-11)
Dearly beloved: The ancients therefore that are among you, I beseech, who am myself also an ancient, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ: as also a partaker of that glory which is to be revealed in time to come: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking care of it, not by constraint, but willingly, according to God: not for filthy lucre’s sake, but voluntarily: Neither as lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart. And when the prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never fading crown of glory. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you. To him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.
📖Gospel (Mt 16:13-19)
At that time, Jesus came into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
🤔Reflections
🗝️Today's liturgy celebrates the rock upon which the Church is built, a rock that is perpetuated in the successors of Peter, such as St. Linus. The power of the keys, promised to Peter in the Gospel, is not a personal honor that ends with him, but a perennial function for the unity and governance of the Church. "What Peter believed, Peter confessed; what Peter confessed, Linus followed." Peter's confession of faith is the foundational stone; upon this faith, and not just upon the person, Christ builds His Church, ensuring that Peter's authority endures in his office. St. Augustine teaches that Peter, in receiving the keys, represented the entire Church: "When it was said to him, 'I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,' he was representing the whole Church" (Sermon 295). St. Leo the Great reinforces that the solidity conferred by Christ to Peter is transmitted to his successors, for "his dignity does not fail, even in an unworthy heir" (Sermon 3). The Epistle, written by Peter himself, demonstrates the nature of this power: not as domination, but as service and a model for the flock, a shepherding that finds its origin and strength in the mandate of the Introit: "Feed my sheep," a mandate founded on love for Christ.
🔄The Gospel of St. Matthew is the only one to report the explicit promise of the primacy to Peter with the images of the "rock" and the "keys." St. Mark (8:27-30) and St. Luke (9:18-21) narrate the confession at Caesarea but omit the declaration "You are Peter...". However, St. Luke complements Peter's unique position at another moment, at the Last Supper, when Jesus says to him: "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren" (Lk 22:32), reinforcing his role as the pillar of faith for the apostles. The Gospel of St. John, in turn, does not contain the scene at Caesarea but presents the threefold pastoral mission to Peter after the Resurrection ("Feed my lambs..."), as echoed in today's Introit, connecting the primacy of jurisdiction (the keys in Matthew) with the primacy of love and pastoral care (the flock in John).
🏛️St. Paul deepens the image of the Church as a building. In his letter to the Ephesians, he states that the faithful are "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone" (Eph 2:20). This complements Matthew, showing that while Peter is the visible foundation rock by Christ's design, the solidity of the entire structure rests on Christ, the cornerstone, and the apostolic college. Paul also establishes a direct historical link with the saint of the day, by personally greeting Linus at the end of his second letter to Timothy: "Eubulus and Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren, salute thee" (2 Tim 4:21), placing the first successor of Peter at the heart of the apostolic community in Rome, alongside the Apostle to the Gentiles.
🇻🇦The documents of the Church corroborate and dogmatically define the truth contained in these readings. The First Vatican Council, in the Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus, declares that the primacy conferred upon Peter "must, by the institution of Christ himself, have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole Church" and that "the Roman Pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy." The Council of Florence, in the decree Laetentur Caeli, had already defined that the Pope is the "successor of blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, true Vicar of Christ, head of the whole Church, and father and teacher of all Christians." These solemn definitions are the theological articulation of Christ's promise to Peter, whose first historical realization occurred in St. Linus.
🧐See English version of the critical articles here.