Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle

“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 bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

In this gospel, Jesus gives mankind one of the greatest gifts we have ever received from God. He plants the seeds of the Church and the sacrament of reconciliation. He gave us the former as a foundation for our faith so that we can weather the storms of the world and offered us the latter so that if we get lost upon the seas of temptation and sin we will be able to return to safe harbor once again. His guidance and mercy will always be with us, no matter the trials and tribulations that come our way. He knows we cannot overcome every obstacle on our own and so he left us the Church and its sacraments to protect and strengthen us in our times of need. And through participating in the Church and its sacraments, we also become rocks of God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace for others so that they can weather the storms of their lives, too.

Are the Church’s teachings and traditions the foundation of our faith? Do we make regular use of the sacraments, especially the sacrament of reconciliation? How can we become rocks of grace for others in their times of trial?

O Lord, build your Church upon us.

Amen.