Word to the Wise
Friday, February 22, 2013 - Feb. 22 - The Chair of St. Peter, Apostle
[1 Pet 5:1-4 and Matt 16:13-19]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. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The celebration of the "Chair of St. Peter the Apostle" has the status of a "feast" in the calendar, but I dare say most folks usually don't notice it much. However, since that "chair" is about to become empty by the deliberate choice of Benedict XVI, it is very much in the Catholic consciousness (and the news media). It won't become "empty" till 8PM on February 28, 2013 Rome time, so we'll all have to wait for that and then for the date to be set for the papal conclave. (The media don't seem to understand that the date is NOT likely to be set publicly till after that point in time!) In the meantime, the "beauty contest" rages as various "candidates" are vetted and speculated about. The speculators should all remember the old conclave adage: He who goes into the conclave a pope comes out a cardinal!
Right now we still have a pope and it is the office he holds that is being honored today, not the person who holds the office and sits in that "chair." Of course, there's no ONE chair as in a piece of furniture! It is a ROLE that Christ has given to the church - a crucial role of unity and authority. Throughout history there have been great saints and great scoundrels who have played that role. Very few of them resigned the office although the demise of some of them was suspicious in some cases or at least was greeted with a collective sigh of relief! There may be some "relief" at the impending resignation of Pope Benedict XVI for various reasons which need not detain us here. In his own right, he has managed pretty well given the fact that he was elected to this crushing responsibility at the age of 78! I think he is showing great courage and generosity toward all of us by not putting the church through the torment of a disabled pope. I hope his successors will follow his example. He is the face of this feast because of the respect he is showing toward the office he has held. Each of us will have our own opinion about his "legacy," but, in modern terms, I think he is showing real "class," and I salute him and pray his remaining years will bring him peace. AMEN