A Reflection for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle
Find today’s readings here.
In the collect for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, the church prays to God “that no tempests may disturb us, for you have set us fast on the rock of the Apostle Peter’s confession of faith.”
In the Gospel reading for this feast, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” and it is this answer that leads Jesus to say that Peter is the rock of faith on which he will build his church.
Many of us have been praying for the health of Pope Francis in recent days, as he has been hospitalized with pneumonia. But that has also led me to remember and reflect upon some of the earliest days of his papacy, including his first interview as pope.
In that interview, he was asked “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” and responded, “I am a sinner.” He then expanded on that concept, saying “I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon,” connecting it to his papal motto “Miserando atque Eligendo [by having mercy and choosing him].”
For Jesuits, this language recalled the declaration made by our 32nd General Congregation in answer to the question “What is it to be a Jesuit?”: “It is to know that one is a sinner, yet called to be a companion of Jesus as Ignatius was.”
But Francis was also echoing St. Peter’s own recognition of his sinfulness, as he responded to Jesus when he first called him from the shore of the Sea of Galilee: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Lk 5:8).
Responding to the question “Who do you say that I am?” always also involves answering the question “Who am I?”
Peter is able to recognize Jesus as Lord not only because he has correctly “decoded” what Jesus has been doing and saying, but even more because he has experienced Jesus having mercy on him and choosing him as a disciple.
As we pray in thanksgiving today for the church’s firm foundation on the rock of Peter’s faith, and as we continue to pray for Pope Francis’ health, let us join them both in confessing our own gratitude and amazement at Jesus’ mercy for us, in which we recognize him as the Son of the Living God.
