The feast that we celebrate today, The Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, is not about a piece of furniture. Instead, it is about the authority that Jesus bestowed upon St. Peter and his successors. And this authority is not St. Peter’s authority but the authority of Christ. The Chair (or Cathedra) is the symbol of that authority. This is where we get the word “Cathedral” which is the seat of authority in any diocese.
Jesus’ authority or power, we know, was never used for His own purposes; it was used to do the will of His Father in heaven; it was used to heal the sick, give comfort to the brokenhearted, to give hope to the downtrodden; to help the needy. So, the authority He bestowed upon St. Peter was less power and more responsibility; a responsibility of faith, love, and compassion. This is reflected in Bernini’s sculpture of the Chair of St. Peter under the dome of the Basilica in Rome: On the inscription on it are the following words: "O Pastor Ecclesiae, tu omnes Christi pascis agnos et oves," which means, “O pastor of the Church, you feed all Christ's lambs and sheep.”
On this feast day, then, let us pray especially for our Holy Father: that the Holy Spirit may ever guide him as he continues to act as the Vicar of Christ on earth. May his work, his prayer, and his very life be an example to us of how to use the gifts we have received to bring the love and grace of God to all those we meet.+
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