A History Lesson: In 701 BC, Jerusalem was surrounded by the Assyrian army of Sennacherib. He had already conquered and deported the Ten Northern Tribes to their future homelands in the Middle East.
Jerusalem’s King, Hezekiah, was worried! In Isaiah 37:6-7, the Prophet told him: “Don’t be afraid… I will make him return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.”
That connects to Today’s Catholic Reading from Isaiah 22:18:33, when God told Isaiah that Jerusalem’s leading bureaucrat, Shebna, would be replaced with Eliakim:
“I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder: when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one will open.” Catholics recognize that as The Prophecy of Jesus and His “keys to The Kingdom of Heaven replacing those of Eliakim!
There is also another “Hidden Catholic Prophecy” in that Passage: God loves good bureaucrats!
Another “Hidden Catholic Prophecy” about God’s “keys” came true 730 years later, when God took human form on earth. He would sacrifice His human life to leave “the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven” to His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church to the first person who publicly recognized Him for Who He Is in Matthew 16:13-2o!
“Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, and He asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’
They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'”
Then, Jesus asked The Same Question that He asks you and me and everyone blessed to believe in God and His Prophets:
“Jesus said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?'”
One person was blessed to answer that question! “Peter said to Him in reply, ‘You are The Christ, the Son of The Living God.'”
That was all Jesus needed to hear, from Peter, and then from every person on earth blessed to believe God and His Prophets:
“Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My heavenly Father.”
Then, and only then, He Who fulfilled the Messianic Prophecies spoke The Church-Creating Word that is God’s Foundation of The Catholic Church!
“And so I say to you: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Catholics are blessed to see the connection with the earlier savior of God’s people, Eliakim, who was given saving “keys”! That “Hidden Catholic Prophecy” is clearer to those blessed to “Be Catholic!” than anyone else on earth:
“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.'”
These “keys to The Kingdom of Heaven” are a “Hidden Catholic Prophecy” of The Seven Catholic Sacraments: Baptism, Confession/Absolution, Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Healing, and the Holy Orders that take living form in Catholics, especially our Catholic priests and religious.
“Then, He strictly ordered His disciples to tell no one that He was The Christ.”
That “strict order” was cancelled on His Ascension into Heaven. Then, His Disciples, the First Catholic Bishops and believers, began to spread The Word: “Be as Catholic as you can!”
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Today’s Simple Rhyme: “May all be blessed to be, and stay / as Catholic as we can, each day!”
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