Not prevail

The Church's message: disregarded by most people.

The Church's reputation: a morass of immorality.

The Church's ministers: hiding from the public.

The Church's followers: often indistinguishable from pagans.

The Church's worldwide leader: being tortured at the Vatican.

That was the state of the Church barely thirty years after our Lord said that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," as we hear in today's Gospel (Matthew 16:13-19).

It was indeed a dark time for the Body of Christ: Christians were relatively few, the Christian message was not well known or understood, Christians were accused of everything from cannibalism to arson, Christians and their leaders often had to hide from murderous prosecution, some Christians returned in fear to their pagan ways, and Saint Peter himself was being hung upside down on a cross on the Vatican hill.

At that moment, it would have been very easy to think that the gates of hell were indeed prevailing against the Church.

But the gates of hell did not prevail at that darkest of moments in the life of the Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail now nor in the future.

The words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, remain true.

And I say also unto 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 unto thee
the keys of the kingdom of heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.

We as a Church may experience dark times. Like Saint Paul in today's second reading (2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18) we may be "poured out like a libation," but if we remain faithful, by God's grace, like Paul we will be able to say

The Lord stood by me and gave me strength,
so that through me
the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.
And I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat
and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.