Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle

Readings of the day: RB 18:7-11

1 P 5:1-4; Resp. Ps 23; Mt 16:13-19

 

The Chair of Saint Peter, Bernini

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea,

but the encounter with an event, a person,

which gives life a new horizon and decisive direction.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est, 1)

Jesus questions Simon Peter: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter responds: ‘You are Christ, the Son of the living God.’ This encounter with the living and true God certainly gave Peter’s life a new horizon and decisive direction. May we open our hearts and minds and respond to an on-going invitation: I invite all Christians everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day…No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ‘no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord’ (Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 3). 

You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.

WHO IS JESUS FOR YOU?