Homily: February 22, 2025 Feast of the chair of St. Peter.

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 “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.” 

Our Lord founded the Church and handed over its growth and development into the future, to Peter. Note that the disciple is Simon, but the pope is Peter. Thus, this appointment to build the church, an appointment so solid like a rock, will be so strong and firm that not even hell could ever overcome it.

Simon Peter was not perfect; he had his human weaknesses. It is written that he had cowardly denied Jesus three times, and at one point, Jesus even rebuked him, “Get behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). Christian Tradition also tells that during the time of persecution in Rome, he had tried to escape and flee from Rome.

The story continued that on his way along the road outside the city, he met our Lord Jesus where he asked, “Quo vadis, Domine?” - “Where are you going Lord?” To which our Lord replied, “Romam eo iterum crucifigī” – “I am going to Rome to be crucified again”.

It was then that Simon Peter gained courage, went back to Rome, continued his ministry and accepted his crucifixion for the faith. He died a martyr.

Simon Peter was as human as you and I. At this moment, the 266th successor of St. Peter, Pope Francis, is lying in hospital, weak and ill. He needs our prayers.

Simon Peter, the person, had weaknesses and flaws, he had died. But the papacy which our Lord Jesus Christ assigned to him lives on. Pope Francis would at some point also leave this earth, but the office he took over and now holds, the Chair of St. Peter, will persist for as long as the church exists, and “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

Recently, there was a young man who was attending the weekday Mass, approached me saying that he was searching for a real church and asked me to explain to him, in simple terms, the fundamentals of the Catholic faith. What makes it different from other churches?

I offered him the three core pillars of our faith:

1. The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

2. We honor Mary, the Mother of God.

3. The Supreme Authority of the Pope.

Yes, despite the weaknesses of the man, Jesus chose Simon Peter, and every pope who succeeds him, to lead and build the Church.

The Catholic Church’s supreme authority is vested in the office of the Pope, the Chair of St. Peter. It is a divine appointment. The feast we celebrate today is a celebration of the unshakable, infallible papacy of the Church, the Chair of St. Peter, not the man who holds the post.

Today we celebrate the Wisdom of God, the authority of Christ and Jesus’ promise that the Church will prevail.

Amen.


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