Father John Gerard Hillier

​​​​​​​When thinking about “the Church,” how often do we consider the fact that Jesus had us in mind some 2,000 years ago when, at Caesarea Philippi, he told Saint Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church…And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 16:18-19)? Do we appreciate that Jesus was actually thinking about us when he stood, in his glorified risen body, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and drew from that same man, Saint Peter, the three-fold repeated profession of love: “Lord, you know that I love you” (Jn 21:15-17)? He then gave Peter supreme authority over his Church (Jn 21:15-17).

Article 144 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 1987-2016 As a child, when I insisted on doing something or questioning something that was not in line with our Catholic faith, my mom would often say: “God’s ways are not our ways and our ways are not always God’s.” Little did my mom know that she was quoting from Isaiah 55:8 in the Old Testament when she spoke these words. Perhaps we’ve all heard a variation of them. In any case, they all derive from this passage in the Book of the Isaiah.