Feast of the Apostle's teaching office and of unity with the Successor of Peter · Feast: 22 February
Open in the Daily Word app“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
This feast does not celebrate a piece of furniture, and it is not the story of one day in a person's life. In the ancient world a teacher sat in a chair, and a bishop's chair, his cathedra, is the sign of his office of teaching and shepherding his people. To celebrate the Chair of Peter is to give thanks for the ministry that Christ entrusted to Peter for the whole Church. The feast is very old: a Roman calendar of the year 354 already records it on 22 February.
The Gospels show who Peter was. Simon, son of John, was a fisherman of Galilee, a married man (Mark 1:30), whom Jesus named Cephas, or Peter, the rock (John 1:42). When he professed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus said that on this rock he would build his Church, and gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the power to bind and to loose (Matthew 16:16-19). At the Last Supper Jesus told him that he had prayed for him so that his faith would not fail, and that he must strengthen his brothers (Luke 22:32). Peter denied Jesus three times; after the Resurrection, three times he was asked if he loved Jesus and three times he was told to tend his flock (John 21:15-17). In the Acts of the Apostles he leads the first community, preaches at Pentecost and opens the door to the Gentiles.
Christian tradition honours Peter's chair in two cities. At Antioch in Syria, where the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26) and where Paul once opposed Peter to his face (Galatians 2:11), early writers say that Peter was the first to lead the Church. The Syriac tradition honours Antioch as an Apostolic See of Peter and recalls on this date his founding of that see. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, which belongs to this Antiochene heritage, therefore has a special reason for joy in this feast. At Rome Peter gave his life by martyrdom under Nero, about the year 64 to 67, and his tomb lies beneath St Peter's Basilica. Before 1960 the Roman calendar kept two feasts, Rome on 18 January and Antioch on 22 February; since then the one feast is kept on this date.
The Catholic Church teaches that the Bishop of Rome, as successor of Peter, is the visible principle of the unity of the bishops and of all the faithful (Lumen Gentium 23; CCC 882). He holds, by Christ's institution, full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church, and all the Churches, East and West, are in communion with him while keeping their own rites and laws. The First Vatican Council in 1870 defined that when the Pope speaks ex cathedra, defining as the supreme teacher a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he is preserved from error by the Holy Spirit (CCC 891). This does not mean that a Pope cannot sin; Peter himself needed correction and mercy. His office is a service, and St Gregory the Great called himself the servant of the servants of God.
The rock was a man who failed and was forgiven.
Peter's office exists so that the Church may be one.
Eastern and Western Churches live in one communion with Peter's successor.
Before Jesus entrusted the flock to Peter, he asked: do you love me?
After the Resurrection, by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus asked Peter three times whether he loved him. Peter, who had denied him three times, was hurt and answered that the Lord knew everything. Three times Jesus gave him his flock to care for (John 21:15-17).
When the letter of Pope St Leo the Great was read at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the bishops, nearly all of them from the East, are recorded to have cried out that Peter had spoken through Leo.
An ancient story says that Peter was fleeing from Rome when he met Jesus on the road. He asked, Lord, where are you going? Jesus replied that he was going to Rome to be crucified again. Peter turned back and went to his martyrdom. Tradition adds that he asked to be crucified head downward.
With this Church, because of its more powerful origin, every Church must agree.
St Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies III.3.2, on the Church of Rome, in substance
The Roman Pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of the unity of both the bishops and the whole company of the faithful.
Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium 23, in substance
We celebrate the office, not the furniture.
Strength for his brothers (Luke 22:32).
Antioch, Rome, and all Churches in one communion.
Dear friends, today we celebrate a chair, and it may seem strange. In the ancient world a teacher taught sitting down, and a bishop's chair came to stand for his ministry. So this is a feast of Peter's ministry: the gift that Christ gave to his Church when he said to a fisherman, You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church (Matthew 16:18).
Think who that fisherman was. He spoke too quickly, he sank in the water, and he denied his Lord three times by a charcoal fire. Jesus knew all this. He told Peter that he had prayed for him, that his faith might not fail, and that once he had turned back he must strengthen his brothers (Luke 22:32). The rock of the Church is not the natural strength of a man. It is the faithfulness of Christ to the man he chose. By the lake he asked only, Do you love me? and then he said, Feed my sheep (John 21:17).
This ministry has continued in the Bishop of Rome. Its purpose is unity. When a Catholic in Kerala, a Catholic in Rome and a Catholic in Syria profess the one faith, it is because of this bond. Our Churches differ in their rites and their history. The Syriac heritage remembers with joy that Peter's chair stood first at Antioch, and the Malankara Catholic Church treasures this link. Rome keeps the memory of his martyrdom and his tomb. These are not rivals. We are one flock, and at every Holy Mass / Holy Qurbana we pray by name for the Pope.
So let us do three things today. Let us pray for the Pope by name, as for a father carrying a heavy burden. Let us listen to the teaching of the Church with a humble heart, and not only when it pleases us. And let us work for unity in our own parish and family, for those who love Peter's Chair cannot be people who divide. Lord, as you prayed for Peter, keep the faith of your Church from failing. Amen.
Almighty God, you have built your Church on the rock of Peter's faith. Grant that no storm may shake us; bless our Holy Father, the Pope, and all our bishops, and keep the whole Church in the unity of faith and love. Amen.