{"id":1410,"date":"2010-02-22T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-22T09:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2010\/02\/because-we-are-a-bible-believing-church-iii-the-chair-of-st-peter\/"},"modified":"2015-06-07T23:36:21","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T04:36:21","slug":"because-we-are-a-bible-believing-church-iii-the-chair-of-st-peter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2010\/02\/because-we-are-a-bible-believing-church-iii-the-chair-of-st-peter.html","title":{"rendered":"Because We Are A Bible-Believing Church III: The Chair of St. Peter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

I have been on this planet for roughly 49 and a half years. I have been a Christian for roughly 39 and a half of those years and a Catholic Christian for 5 years come the Easter Vigil. So what? So I never knew until a few years ago that February 22 is the Feast Day of the Chair of St. Peter.<\/p>\n

I also was ignorant of the fact that Catholic tradition states that it was on this day that Our Lord made His declaration about St. Peter as being the keeper of the keys.<\/p>\n

Consider this one of those \u201cpleasures of finding things out\u201d<\/a> moments I wrote about on around New Years a few years back. In italics below is a note I found on Catholic Exchange <\/a>about this day in Church history.\u00a0 My edits and expansions of additional Bible references\u00a0are included, but full credit for this post should go to CE.<\/p>\n

Rookie that I am, I really, really<\/em> have a lot to learn about the history of the Church.\u00a0But I have found that an understanding of history is very helpful as I make my way through this world in other areas.\u00a0 Why wouldn\u2019t the same be true of Church history?<\/p>\n

Here begins the article from Catholic Exchange:<\/p>\n

Upon This Rock<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Today the Church celebrates the feast day of the Chair of Peter. This celebration dates back to at least the fourth century. The Calendar of Philocalus, made in the year 354 and having dates going back to the year 311, marks February 22 for this feast. According to very ancient Western liturgies, February 22 was the date that Christ appointed Peter to sit in His place as the authority over His Church. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When Jesus asks the apostles \u201cWho do you say that I am?\u201d Peter alone replied as follows,<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.\u201d\u00a0Jesus said to him in reply, \u201cBlessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.\u00a0For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.\u00a0And so I say to you, you are Peter,and upon this rock I will build my Church,\u00a0and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The \u201cchair\u201d of course, is the position, the authority that was given to Peter. This can also be called the Petrine authority or the authority of the pope. Peter, alone among the Apostles, was given the keys to the kingdom. Jesus said to him, \u201cI 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.\u201d (Mt. 16:19) <\/strong>The Apostles would immediately understand, as would any first-century Jew, what Jesus was referring to when He said \u201ckeys to the kingdom.\u201d This was a reference to Isaiah 22<\/strong> where it refers to a king delegating his special authority over his kingdom to his prime minister<\/a>. <\/strong>In essence, Jesus was setting up His kingdom on earth (the Catholic Church) and he was delegating His authority to Peter to rule over it until He comes again. In giving Peter the authority to bind and loose, Jesus was essentially stating that He would back up the decisions that Peter would make. Of course, the Church teaches us that this does not refer to all Peter\u2019s actions, but in matters of faith and morals, Peter does have the authority to speak for Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n

And all this despite Simon Peter\u2019s weaknesses and flaws as a regular guy. Our Lord foretells that Peter will deny him. But first, He tells the Apostles this at the Last Supper,<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you\u00a0 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

And He singles out Peter with the following information that He prayed for Peter\u00a0before fortelling his denial of Him,<\/p>\n

\u201cSimon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.\u201d (Luke 22:28-32)<\/em>
\n<\/em>
\nChrist promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide His Church. This promise is made to guide Peter and the popes throughout the ages, in union with the bishops, in shepherding His Church. Peter, or the pope, however, is the shepherd who watches over the flock until Christ returns. We see this in Scripture also when Christ, after His resurrection and just prior to His Ascension, says to Peter, calling him by his former name (before Christ changed it):<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSimon, son of John, do you love me more than these?\u201d (Referring to the other apostles)<\/em>
\nPeter replied, \u201cYes, Lord, you know that I love you.\u201d<\/em>
\nHe said to him, \u201cFeed My lambs.\u201d He then said to him a second time, \u201cSimon, son of John, do you love Me?\u201d<\/em>
\nHe said to him, \u201cYes, Lord, You know that I love You.\u201d<\/em>
\nHe said to him, \u201cFeed My sheep.\u201d He said to him the third time, \u201cSimon, son of John, do you love Me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Peter was distressed that He had said to him a third time, \u201cDo you love Me?\u201d and he said to Him, \u201cLord, You know everything, You know that I love You.\u201d Jesus said to him, \u201cFeed My sheep\u201d (Jn 21:15-17).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus is our true Shepherd, but He has asked Peter to watch over His flock until He returns to earth. Christ is the King of Kings and He has delegated His authority to Peter and all those after Peter who would sit in the \u201cChair of Peter\u201d throughout the ages until He comes again in His glory. So Scripture makes it very clear why the Church celebrates this special occasion.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks be to God.<\/p>\n

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I have been on this planet for roughly 49 and a half years. I have been a Christian for roughly 39 and a half of those years and a Catholic Christian for 5 years come the Easter Vigil. So what? So I never knew until a few years ago that February 22 is the Feast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBecause We Are A Bible-Believing Church III: The Chair of St. Peter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have been on this planet for roughly 49 and a half years. 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