Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle

Matthew 16:13-19

Each Sunday during mass we make the profession of our faith. We say that we believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. However, do you always pay close attention to what you are saying? I must admit that I often repeat the creed without even thinking about what I am saying. Yes, our Church is one and only one, is Holy even if the people that belong to that Church are imperfect and maybe even very sinful, and our Church was established on an Apostolic foundation by Jesus Christ. This is a definition of our Church. Today on this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, we honor the authority that Jesus gave to Peter as the leader of the Church. This feast also recognizes the significance of St. Peter’s successors, the popes. And we learned throughout the history of the Church that those successors of Peter were not always holy men, some of them have even done terrible things. There are also bishops, priests, deacons and religious who by their immoral actions turn others away from the Church. But we must constantly remember that even when our Church is filled with sinful people, it’s still One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, and it will be there forever, because Jesus said so: “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” We must pray for strong faith, for our Church, for the leaders of our Church - popes, bishops, priests, deacons, religious and for each one of us.