"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." (Matthew 16: 18).
Today is the feast of the Chair of St Peter, Apostle. From the Roman Missal, we learn what this feast is all about.
"This Feast brings to mind the mission of teacher and pastor conferred by Christ on Peter, and continued in an unbroken line down to the present Pope. We celebrate the unity of the Church, founded upon the Apostle, and renew our assent to the magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, extended both to truths which are solemnly defined "ex cathedra" and to all the acts of the ordinary magisterium."
"The Lord says to Simon Peter:
I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail,
and, once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22: 32).
One of the key duties of the Petrine office is to confirm the faith of his fellow Bishops. We should encourage and confirm the faith of our fellow Christians.
We have below a great catechesis on the office of the Pope:
"Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep." The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom." (CCC 553).
Thank You Jesus for the Office of Peter.
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