Word to the Wise
Monday, February 22, 2021 - Feb. 22 - The Chair of St. Peter, Apostle
[1 Pet 5:1-4 and Matt 16:13-19]"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 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 found in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." [Matthew]
What we celebrate today is certainly not a piece of furniture, but rather a symbol and role in the Body of Christ, the papacy itself. This role has considerably evolved over the 2,000 or more years since Jesus established it with the words quoted above. The occupants of the "chair" have been a mixed bag of saints and scoundrels, and, indeed those titles have been bestowed on the same person at the same time, depending on one's notions of the church. By and large, the popes over the last two hundred years or so have been good people, some of whom the church has "canonized" (Pius X, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II). It could be said with a great deal of truth that the Protestant Reformation occurred in no small measure because of the abuses of the popes in charge at the time. Jesus created a job with a broad job description, but he left the hiring to ordinary mortals. Yes, the method of hiring changed over the centuries as well. The College of Cardinals did not begin to develop for hundreds of years after Jesus' death.
As fascinating as the history of the papacy (and the college of cardinals) may be, I think the primary force of this feast day really pushes us to reflect about our own attitudes regarding the pope, whoever he may be at a given point in time. I was born when Pius XII was pope (1939-1958) and I recall vividly the awe which his austere and remote personality instilled in us kids. The complete change of style shown by his immediate successor, John XXIII, required an adjustment, as did the next pope, Paul VI, and so on to today's pope, Francis. All of them have been called "the Vicar of Christ on earth" but each of them has learned over and over again that the Chair of St. Peter is the world's biggest "hot seat." AMEN