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4 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA Father had revealed to Peter His Divinity, and then solemnly affirmed to Peter that he would be the foun dation on which He would build His Church, and promised to him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, or supreme authority in His Church. St. Gregory, whom I have already quoted, says: “To all who know the Gospel it is clear that to Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, the care of all the Church was committed by the Lord. To him was said: Thou art Peter, to thee I will give the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Behold he receives the keys of the Heavenly Kingdom. The power of binding and loosing is his care, and the government of the whole Church is granted. These words were written over thirteen hundred years ago. Certainly it can not be asserted that our belief in the Primacy of Peter is modern. He Prayed for Peter. In the XXII. Chapter of St. Luke (thirty-first verse) we find Christ saying to Peter: “Simon, Satan had desired to have you that he might sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and thou being converted confirm thy brethren.” In these words Christ stated that the Devil was desirous to have all the Apostles, but that He, Christ, had prayed particularly for Peter, whom He charged to confirm the others. All were sought and for one Christ prayed. And that one was the one whom Christ had said should be the sure foundation of His Church. On the stability of the foundation depended the stability of the Church, and so Christ especially prayed for Peter that his faith should not fail. As to the other Apostles, they were to be con firmed in faith by Peter: "And thou being con verted confirm thy brethren.” Reading the Scrip tures we find that Christ sent the twelve with power to teach all nations and promised His Presence with them to the end of time. To Peter He gave the same mission with the rest, but He also gave to him the fuller authority of confirming the faith of the other Apostles. In St. Johns Gospel (XXI-15) we find Christ say ing to Peter: Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? And Peter answered: “Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” And Christ said to him: "Feed My Lambs.” And again and a third time did He propose the self-same question to Peter. And again to asseveration of his love did Christ say: “Feed My Lambs, Feed My Sheep.” These words were spoken directly to Peter, and unquestionably they are to be understood as addressed to Peter alone and exclusively. Again, they are not an exhortation or advice, but a command: “Feed My Lambs, Feed My Sheep. Our Lord made use of a simile or figure with which the people were very familiar, for they were a pastoral people. The duties of a shepherd may be thus stated: (a) To provide proper pasture for the flock and lead them to it; (b) To keep the flock together and prevent them straying away; (c) To defend the flock against the attacks of enemies, wolves and the like. It need hardly be said that the words, “feeding the flock,” imply full authority over the flock. This is clear from sacred as well as profane writers. Christ, our Divine Lord, frequently spoke of Himself as the Shepherd of the flock. Hence when He ‘gave to Peter the duty of feeding both the sheep and the Iambs, that is, the whole flock, He gave him the full ness of His own power and authority in the Church. There shall be, said Christ, but one Fold and one Shepherd. In the Book of Zacharias (XIII-7) we read: **My sheep are scattered because there is no shepherd.” And in the same inspired writer: “Awake, O sword, against My shepherd and against the man that cleav- eth to Me, saith the Lord of hosts; strike the shep herd and the sheep shall be scattered.” No one can forget our Lord's words where He proclaims Himself the Good Shepherd and adds that the “Good Shep herd layeth down His life for the sheep." To Peter, then, both the power and the duty of feeding, lead ing and keeping in unity the entire flock of Christ were confided by the Lord. There seems to be a rather widespread idea that this Primacy of Peter was not known to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, for had it been, we would certainly have traces of it in the Gospels. I might say to this argument that there is a large number of very intelligent persons who deny that there is a word in the Bible which states that Christ is God. There is a large number of sincere persons who deny the Trinity, the Virgin birth of Christ, the resurrec tion of the Lord, and many other Christian truths, and they read the Bible. The rest of us say these things are in the Bible explicitly or implicitly. I s it well, then, to conclude from the silence of the Bible? However, is it true that there is no evidence of the exercise of the Primacy in the Bible? It is known that the traitor, Judas, hanged himself, thus leaving eleven Apostles to carry on the work. They had been selected by Christ. There does not seem to be any particular reason why the eleven could not carry on the work, and there is no ac count that Christ wished the number of twelve to be preserved. Now let us see what the Holy Scriptures say: “In these days Peter rising up in the midst of the brethren said: ‘The Scriptures must needs be fulfilled which the Holy Ghost spake before by the mouth of David. Wherefore, of these men who have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out with us; one of these must be made a witness with us to His resurrection.’ And at Peter’s word Matthias was made an Apostle.” Does not this suggest the exercise of authority on the part of Peter? When the Apostles had received the Holy Spirit and came down from the upper chamber it was Peter who first proclaimed Christ to the people as is told in Acts 11, 14 to 42. And three thousand persons were by him converted to the Church, of which he was the foundation. Does it not seem peculiar that when the first conversions were made Peter was the one speaking? In Acts V, to 12, we read that Peter and (Continued on Page 14.)