DAILY- HOMILY

February 22, 2019 – FRIDAY, 6TH Week in Ordinary Time

CHAIR OF ST. PETER, Apostle

Feast. White.

1 Pt 5: 1 – 4 / Mt 16: 13 – 19

The feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, dates to the oldest Roman calendar of 394: it commemorates St. Peter in Antioch.

Ist Reading:        1 Pt 5: 1 – 4

I now address myself to those elders among you; I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ, hoping to share the Glory which is to be revealed. Shepherd the flock which God has entrusted to you, guarding it not out of obligation but willingly for God's sake;  not as one looking for a reward but with a generous heart; do not lord it over those in your care, rather be an example to your flock. Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will be given a crown of unfading glory

Gospel Reading:               Mt 16: 13 – 19

After that Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, "What do people say to the Son of Man? Who do they say I am?" They said, "For some of them you are John the Baptist; for others Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

Jesus asked them, "But you, who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

"And now I say to you: You are Peter (or Rock) and on this rock I will build              my Church and never will the powers of death overcome it.

"I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven."

REFLECTION

Today's feast has been celebrated in the Church almost from the very beginning. It goes back to the fourth century, when the Church had just emerged from the catacombs. The feast honors, of course, not the papal throne, the chair itself, but the chair as symbol of the authority bestowed by Christ on Peter and his successors in the papacy. It recalls not only papal authority, but also the responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of the man who is chosen as Pope and Bishop of Rome.

Authority, of course, is a gift given to the Church in order to help her guide her children through this world to the kingdom of heaven. The Gospel reading recalls Jesus choosing Peter to be the Rock on which the Church would be solidly founded and giving him the keys, symbolic of the power of binding and loosening in matters of faith.

Peter embraced this position of authority in the spirit intended by Jesus. Throughout the Gospel Jesus indicates time and again that in his mind the exercise of authority is to be manifested in service. That Peter was one with Christ in this understanding of authority, he makes clear in the brief selection from his first letter that is the first reading at this Mass.

We should pray for all who exercise leadership in the Church, that they take to heart Peter's advice. We should pray that we will gratefully accept the teaching of the shepherds under whose care Christ has placed us.

FINALLY, WE PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER, FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ASKED OUR PRAYERS AND FOR THOSE WHO NEED OUR PRAYERS THE MOST. 

Have a good day!

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