By Jacqueline Kelly –
At the age of thirty-three, Jesus began His pubic ministry. Everywhere, He went, He proclaimed the good news that “the kingdom of God had come. Jesus established the Eucharist, as a sign of His love for those ready to accept Him.
The number of followers and admirers of our Lord kept increasing as time went on. One day, when the multitude were around Jesus, eager to hear His teaching, He had compassion on them, for they were as sheep without a shepherd. He chose from among them twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them to preach. Now, these twelve He called Apostles, that is, those that are sent. The names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew; James, son of Alphaeus, and Jude Thaddaeus; Simon called Zealot; and Judas Iscariot.
Simon, son of Jonah [Mt 16:17] was a native of Bethsaida on the shore of Galilee. Married and settled at Capernaum, together with his brother, Andrew, he earned his living “fishing”, until the Lord called him from being a “fisherman” and a disciple of John the Baptist to become a “fisher of men” [Lk 5:9]. Simon was renamed Kepha, [Aramaic for “rock”, Petrus in Latin], and when he later declared his faith in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” [Mt 16:16], Our Lord declared him “Blessed” [Mt 16:17].
He appointed Peter as the head of His flock and promised to send the Holy Spirit.
“I now say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of 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.” [ Mt 16: 18-19]. With this declaration, Jesus invested Peter with the right to sit in His place as the Prince of the Apostles. It is the Episcopal dignity and universal primacy of that high office instituted by our Lord himself that we venerate today. It clearly indicates Peter’s supreme position of governing judge and arbiter as ordained by Jesus.
Having chosen His apostles, Jesus commanded them to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and announce to them that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. He also gave them power to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out devils. He told them not to take anything with them on their journey, because the labourer is worthy of his wage. Peter, as the leader of the Apostles, was not sure whether Christ’s message was only for the Jews or for all people. In a vision, he was assured that the commands of Jewish law about food were no longer binding. This was a sign that God wanted Christianity to spread beyond the boundaries of the Jewish nation. So, the Apostles left their homes to venture into foreign lands.
After the Resurrection, Peter was among the first to whom the Lord appeared; it was he who presided over the election of Matthias [Acts 1:15-20], preached the first public sermon at Pentecost [Acts 2:14 -40], addressed the Sanhedrin- Body of Judges who were appointed and given the power to uphold God’s law[Acts 4:5-22], received the first Jewish [Acts 2:41] and later the first pagan converts [Acts 10:44-48] into the Church; he performed the first public miracle [Acts 3:1-11] and spoke the decisive word at the first Council of the Church.
Jesus Bestows on Peter the Supreme Pastorship
Jesus had chosen Peter as the head of the Church; later on, bestowed on Peter the gift of unerring faith for himself and for his brethren; and now Jesus entrusted to him the lambs and the sheep, i.e the whole flock. But the flock of Christ is the true Church. Hence, if it is the duty of Peter to govern the whole Church of Christ, it must also be the duty of the members of the Church to obey Peter. Whosoever, therefore, does not obey Peter or his successors, cannot enter into friendship with Christ. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Peter and the other Apostles, established Bishops as their successors. These Bishops were to govern the faithful, and to teach them the same doctrine that they had learnt from the Apostles. The Apostles and the first followers of the Apostles had no written books with which to evangelize the world. It was all done by preaching. The Apostles preached what they had seen with their own eyes, and their successors preached what they had learnt from the apostles. The Church becomes universal.
The Roman Empire began to order the people to worship Emperor Nero as a divine being. During the reign of Emperor Nero, a terrible fire broke out and destroyed Rome. To deflect the wrath of the people against him for his sinful life, he blamed the Christians and ordered them to be arrested. Peter gloriously suffered martyrdom, as foretold by Christ himself, on Vatican Hill, but upside down on a Cross, in deference to his feelings of unworthiness at dying in the position in which the Lord had been crucified. His body was buried in the Vatican Hill, in the city, and over it, when finally, the persecutions ended, the Basilica of Saint Peter was built. The Bishops of Rome, whom we call Pope, are the successors of Saint Peter, its first Bishop. The Pope is the Chief Pastor of the Church.
Now, set high up in the wall of the domed roof at the eastern end of the Church of Saint Peter’s in Rome, the chair, embellished with ivory panels and enclosed in bronze casing designed by Bernini, was last exposed for public veneration in 1867, commemorating the 18th centenary of the great Apostle’s martyrdom.
The word “chair” is derived from the Latin word sedes, i.e., the Holy See, or the Greek expression Cathedra Sancti Petri. Today’s feast implicitly affirms the Catholic teaching concerning the Papacy: in the reigning Pope, the Church recognizes and honours the legitimate successor of Saint Peter as Pastor of the whole Church. This is the origin of the expression ex cathedra – “from the chair” – whereby the Pope infallibly defines a doctrine that is irrevocably binding on all the faithful.
Saint Peter and Saint Paul were referred to as “the two pillars of the Church”, “two lanterns” burning for Christ, illuminating the way to Heaven.
In the words of Blessed James Alberione, “Saint Peter gained the palm of martyrdom at Rome where he had established for himself and his successors, the See of the Vicar of Christ. The Church is the people of God. May all be faithful! May all believe in what the Church preaches! May all follow her moral teachings and the Christian virtues.”
Peter preached in Antioch, Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia and Asia-Minor, Rome; headed Roman Catholic Church.
Relics at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
Symbols: The Keys; upside-down Latin Cross; Book
Feast: June 29 [along with Saint Paul]
August 1 [Saint Peter’s Chains]
The Bishops continued with unwearied zeal the work which the Holy Apostles had begun. Thus, was established the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, which built by Christ upon the rock of Peter, and guided by the Holy Spirit, has now existed for nearly twenty centuries, and shall exist until the end of time.