Mt. 16:13-19: Homily of Saint Augustine (Sermon 76,1-2)
“When the Lord Jesus Christ asked, who were the people saying that he was, and the disciples gathered various opinions of men. The Lord asked them again saying: And you, who do you say that I am? Peter replied: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Mt. 16: 15-16)
One gave a reply in behalf of many, the unity in the multitude. Then the Lord said to him: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-lon, because not flesh and blood revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Then he added: And I say to you, as if he said: Since you have told me: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, I tell you as well: You are Peter. (Mt. 16: 13-18). Before he was called Simon; this name Peter was given to him by the Lord, and that with the intention of signifying the Church. If Christ is the rock, Peter is the Christian people. The rock is the principal name; for this reason, Peter comes from the rock, not the rock from Peter, as Christ is not derived from Christian, but Christian is named such because of Christ. Hence, he said: You are Peter, and on this rock, that you have confessed, on this rock, that you have known, that is to say: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, I will build my Church (Mt. 16:19), that is, on myself, the same Son of the living God, I will build my church. I will build you on myself, I will not build myself on you.
There were some who wanted to build men on men and were saying: I am Paul, I am Apollo’s, I am Kephas, that is, Peter . . . When the apostle Paul saw that he was chosen and Christ was put aside, he said: Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for your sake? Or have you been baptized in the name of Paul? You were baptized neither in the name of Paul nor of Peter, but in the name of Christ; so that Peter might be built on the rock, not the rock on Peter.”
Trans. by Fr. Romeo Potencio