The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, 22 February 2022
1 Peter 5:1-4 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19
Photo from en.wikipedia.org.
Glory and praise to you,
O Lord Jesus Christ,
as we celebrate today
a most unique feast,
the Chair of St. Peter
your anointed leader of
your Church here on earth.
It is so unique especially
in this time
when we are so concerned
where we sit - whether at home,
in school, in offices, in churches,
and in buses and planes - everywhere!
because every seat is about position,
rank, power and convenience,
always having the "keys" so to speak.
Sadly, as we seek the comfort
of our "asses", we have forgotten
that more important than where we seat
is where we stand.
Remind us, dear Jesus,
on this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter,
especially us your priests
of that beautiful example
you have shown at the Last Supper
when you left your seat
to wash the feet of the Apostles.
How sad and shameful, O Lord,
when we your priests fail to realize
that the throne of the Eucharist
is not a seat of power or prestige
but a seat of loving service to everyone.
St. Ignatius of Antioch said it so well
in his Letter to the Romans (year 110)
that the Primacy of Rome
is the Primacy of Love
because primacy in faith
is always primacy in love,
two things we can never separate.
May we all heed the call of St. Peter,
the designated “owner” of that Chair,
that we “Tend the flock of God in your midst,
overseeing not by constraint but willingly,
as God would have it,
not for shameful profit but eagerly.
Do not lord it over those assigned to you,
but be examples to the flock” (1Pt.5:2-3).
Lord Jesus,
as we grow deeper in faith,
make us more loving too!
Amen.
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