Reflection for TUESDAY, Chair of St. Peter the Apostle.

By

 

Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

Today's gospel verse 

Matthew 16:13-19 

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 


Today's Reflection 

The celebration of the Chair of St. Peter might sound rather odd initially.

Of course, we know what the Chair is in organisations.

The Chairperson is the one who sits right on top and has authority over how things are run.

But the Chair of St. Peter brings us back to the gospel passage when Jesus bestowed spiritual authority on Peter and those who succeeded him.

It also reflects that the Church is both divine and human, that Christ is the Head and that we are members of His body, with the Pope as Chair of the Church.

Though the Church as the Body of Christ has its faults, flaws and failings, that does not diminish the divine nature of the Church.

And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.

Let us continue to stay united as the Church and as the Body of Christ.

Let us pledge our obedience to the Pope and let us be united in prayer as the Body of Christ.

May we, the Church, give glory to God and be living and holy witnesses of  God's salvation for the world.


FEBRUARY 22 | Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle 

This feast brings to mind the mission of teacher and pastor conferred by Christ on Peter, and continued in an unbroken line down to the present Pope. We celebrate the unity of the Church, founded upon the Apostle, and renew our assent to the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, extended both to truths which are solemnly defined ex cathedra, and to all the acts of the ordinary Magisterium.

The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter at Rome has been celebrated from the early days of the Christian era on 18 January, in commemoration of the day when Saint Peter held his first service in Rome. The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch, commemorating his foundation of the See of Antioch, has also been long celebrated at Rome, on 22 February. At each place a chair (cathedra) was venerated which the Apostle had used while presiding at Mass. One of the chairs is referred to about 600 by an Abbot Johannes who had been commissioned by Pope Gregory the Great to collect in oil from the lamps which burned at the graves of the Roman martyrs. 

GOD BLESS YOU 

Good morning. Have a nice safe day.