Remembering our ancestors, our communion in the one faith with St Peter as bishop of Rome.
FIRST READING
A reading from the first letter of St Peter 5:1-4 I am an elder myself, and a witness to the sufferings of Christ.
I have something to tell your elders: I am an elder myself, and a witness to the sufferings of Christ, and with you I have a share in the glory that is be revealed. Be the shepherds of the flock of God that is entrusted to you: watch over it, not simply as a duty but gladly, because God wants it; not for sordid money, but because you are eager to do it. Never be a dictator over any group that is put in your charge, but be an example that the whole flock can follow. When the chief shepherd appears, you will be given the crown of unfading glory.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Responsorial PsalmPs 22 Response The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
1. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit. Response
2. He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort. Response
3. You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed oil; my cup is overflowing. Response
4 Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life .
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever. Response
Gospel AcclamationJn 15: 16 Alleluia, Alleluia! You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. Alleluia!
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Or (in Lent)
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. King of Eternal Glory. You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. King of Eternal Glory.
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GOSPEL
The Lord be with you.And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 16:13-19 Glory to you, O Lord You are Peter and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’
And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man!
Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven:
whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven;
whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel ReflectionFebruary. 22 Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter Matthew 16:13-19
In the world of Jesus and the early church, teachers used to sit to teach and pupils gathered around them. The chair of Peter is a symbol of the teaching role of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope of the Universal church. It is this teaching role that Jesus gives to Peter in today’s gospel reading when he says to you, ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven’.Keys are a symbol of authority and the language of loosening and binding suggests that teaching authority is intended. Peter is being given the authority to declare which elements of the teaching of Jesus are binding and which elements can be interpreted more loosely.
The early church understood that Peter had a special role in interpreting the teaching of Jesus for the emerging church. Within our own Roman Catholic tradition, we understand that this teaching authority given by Jesus to Peter has always resided with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope of the Universal Church. It is a claim that is disputed by other traditions within the Christian family. The Lord speaks to the church in a whole variety of ways, but as Catholics we believe that the Lord speaks in a unique way through the one we call, ‘Our Holy Father’, which is currently Pope Francis.
Yet, he is very aware that the Lord speaks to him through the whole church, every member in every part of the world. That is why he has called on the church throughout the world to come together in an ongoing synodal way, to gather to listen to each other and in doing so to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church today. All good teachers are also good pupils and that is especially true of teachers of the faith. Pope Francis, without compromising his teaching authority, is showing us that he has much to learn from all the faithful. Hopefully, this synodal pathway will help us all to appreciate the ways that the Holy Spirit can speak to us through all the members of the church.
The Scripture Readingsare taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/ The Scripture Reflectionis made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heartby Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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The feast of the Chair of Peter: The chair (cathedra) of a bishop is a pre-eminent sign of his teaching authority and pastoral oversight of a local Church. This feast, observed in Rome since the fourth century, celebrates Peter, first among the apostles, as founder of the See of Rome and the focus of unity in the communion of one faith.
The Chair of St Peter. This is a metaphor for the Petrine ministry or the service the Pope offers as an authoritative leader of the Church. There have been, in fact, two feasts of the Chair of St Peter – one associated with Rome, but another associated with Antioch, where the Church of the Acts (11:26) had an important centre. Patrick Duffy writes about the feast.
Altar of the Chair of St Peter
In the apse of the Basilica of St Peter’s in Rome, underneath the beautiful alabaster window with the dove as symbol of the Holy Spirit (see image>), is an altar carved in 1666 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini called the Altar of the Chair of St Peter. The altar is in the form of a throne supported by figures of the four Fathers of the Church. It contains pieces of acacia wood, said to have been the chair from which St Peter taught, but in fact was a gift from Charles the Bald to the Pope in 873.
The Feast There have been two feasts of the Chair of Peter, one associated with Antioch and the other with Rome and these two feasts remain in the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII, recently allowed by Pope Benedict XVI in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (2007) as an extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. The ordinary form of the revised Roman Calendar (1969) has just one for 22nd February entitled “The Chair of St Peter”.
A catechesis of the Petrine ministry The texts for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours of the feast serve, if a trifle ideologically, as a catechesis on the role of the apostle Peter, stressing the place of a Petrine ministry of authority. This finds its best expression in the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer:
‘With remarkable wisdom the Church was prefigured in the Old Testament and when the time was fulfilled, you established it on the foundation of the apostles. From among them you chose Peter, who was the first to recognise the divinity of Christ, and you made him the solid rock on which your Church would be built. You have constituted him as guide and custodian of your entire flock so that throughout the centuries he could strengthen his brethren. Your Son gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven so that whatever he decided on earth, you, O Father, would ratify in heaven.’
Ubi episcopus, ibi ecclesia
One of the characteristics of the Catholic Church is its unity, that it is one, and the guarantee of that unity is the fact that the Church is hierarchical. The phrase ubi episcopus, ibi ecclesia (“where the bishop is, there is the Church”), traditionally ascribed to St Ignatius of Antioch (d. 107), sums up Catholic teaching on this point. It is the principle which guarantees the validity of the sacraments and other liturgical actions.
I believe in God – not in a Catholic God; there is no Catholic God.
There is God, and I believe inJesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is my teacher and my pastor…
~ Pope Francis ~
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