Shepherd, Example and Rock

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

February 22, 2022: Celebrating the Chair of St. Peter

1 Peter 5:1-4; Matthew 16: 13-19

This is the Chair of St. Peter, above
one of the principle altars
in the Basilica of St. Peter, Vatican.
It is a symbolic reminder
of the Petrine Authority
that has been handed down from age to age,
despite all forces and events
that have vowed to impede it.

Celebrating the Chair of St. Peter is not celebrating the person of Peter, but the authourity given to Peter. This is a fundamental truth of the Catholic Faith, that we are all given with a Shepherd, an example and a Rock on which we are built together as one body of Christ. 

The imageries that are presented today for the authority of St. Peter are very significant, for us today as Catholics. 

First as Shepherd, Peter was called to gather the flock, strengthen their faith and keep them together as one people. Every time there is a rebellion againt the Petrine chair, or the Holy Father, there is a threat to the unity of the Church. Those who cause this division in anyway are responsible and answerable in their conscience to the Head of this one Mystical body. 

Secondly, as an example, as the witness of Christ's suffering and as an elder among elders, Peter's presence was a mediating presence - between the Son of God and the sons and daughters of God. We are all co-heirs in him, but in becoming that we are combining within us, just as Christ did, our human nature and our divine calling. And the Holy Father is given as a sign of that example...a constant reminder for us to keep striving towards our eternal homeland. 

Thirdly, as a Rock, Peter was deliberately asked by Jesus: 'I have prayed that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren' (Lk 22:32). As the Holy Father repeats it often... it is not that he or anyone in that office is a saint already, far from it. And that is exactly what the Church is - a community of weak and sinful persons - but we are all called to be people of a counter culture. The Holy Father becomes the rock, the foundation which enables us to stand firm and strive always to be true witnesses, inspite of all our faults and negligences. 

Today we have a duty to pray for the present Holy Father, as the days go by the forces against this rock, are increasing and growing more vehement. It is certainly not a call to be afraid or frightened, nor is it to spread some curious and dramatic predictions. It is a reminder to unite as a community of people of God, not a simple civil society. The difference lies in prayer! Prayer for our faith, prayers for each other, prayers for the Christian community as a whole and prayers in a special way for the Holy Father, Pope Francis.