Celebrating the Petrine Ministry

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

February 22, 2024: The Chair of St.Peter

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

We celebrate today the pastoral responsibility that the Lord places on the successors of St. Peter. You are Peter; on this rock I shall build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. The Church has stood the test of time - 2 millennia and still counting, despite all the forces which wanted it to buckle under pressure!

The First reading has a few remarkable elements that seem to explain perfectly the role of Papacy: 'presbyter among presbyters', 'not lording over the people', 'being example to the flock'! This is exactly what Pope Francis is trying to insist in the identity of the Church and specially in its identity. He does this stressing the Collegiality of the Bishops, as Bishop of Rome, not lording over but challenging everyone with his very life. Far from making a hero-idol of him, it is important as a Church that we begin to hearken to his passionate call to live as light of the world and salt of the earth, spreading love and hope to those around us.

We have a duty today, to pray for the Holy Father, as there are so many forces in the World that wants by all means to destroy the Church and its moral authority on the planet! The Lord promised that the gates of hell will never prevail over the Church, but we need to remain worthy of the promise, by being communities of genuine faith and integral living.  

Thank you Lord for Pope Francis; guide him, protect him and fill him with the joy of the Spirit! God bless our Pope!