THE SOLID ROCK OF FAITH IN THE WORD OF GOD

Feast of Chair of St. Peter 
Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Theme: The Solid Rock of Faith in the Word of God

We celebrate today the Chair of St. Peter as the principle of profession of faith in the divine Person of Jesus Christ. Aristotle, an ancient philosopher, posited that the first in every genus is a principle of that genus. Based on this Aristotelian principle, we understand the importance of St. Peter and the authority of the Chair or office of St. Peter in the Church. Faith in the divine origin of Jesus Christ existed in the disciples. But St. Peter was the first to formally and openly declare this faith in context of the community formed around Jesus Christ. Our Lord himself chose the context and time for the choice of the disciple to play the most significant role in the life of his Church. As in all things, he did not make the choice by himself but deferred to his heavenly Father. He also ensured that the selection was open and satisfactory to every member of the community of his disciples. The three Persons of the Blessed Trinity were involved, each playing his unique role, and the community witnessed in faith. The gospel reported the event. “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples. ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is? And they said, ‘some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’” This question and its answer form the very core of the Church; one who understands it would understand the nature of the Church. 


Because no one knows the Father, the origin and identity of Jesus Christ are unknown. Only the one to whom the Father reveals the Son would know him. Thus, Peter’s answer showed that the Father has revealed the Son to him. This was Peter’s divine election. “Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.” The gift of faith, by which we see and understand divine mysteries in the Son is from the Father. This is why Jesus said that no one knows the Son except those to whom the Father reveals him. Profession of faith in these mysteries are what constitute the Church as the mystical body of Christ. The better one believes and professes these mysteries, the greater one shares in the life of Jesus Christ. The authority of the Son is therefore conferred on the body of believers in Jesus Christ and exercised uniquely by the office of St. Peter instituted by Christ due to its primacy of confession of faith. “So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven.” Every believer shares in this authority of the Good Shepherd, and each must guide those entrusted to him in the name of Jesus Christ and for the love of him, as admonished by Peter in the first reading.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, a fervent faith in the divinity of your Son, that we may share his heavenly kingdom.         


 

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