Lent: February 26th Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

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The façade of Santa Balbina

The Station today is at St. Balbina's, virgin and martyr (130), the daughter of the tribune and martyr, St. Quirinus. The church is ancient, and was probably built in the 4th century above the house of the consul Lucius Fabius Cilone. The first reference to it is found in a 6th century document, where it is referred to as Sanctae Balbinae, Aventine Hill. It was consecrated by Pope St. Gregory the Great.

Breviary

Office of Readings  http://www.ibreviary.com/m/breviario.php?s=ufficio_delle_letture

SECOND READING

From a commentary on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Ps. 140, 4-6: CCL 40, 2028-2029)

The passion of the whole body of Christ

Lord, I have cried to you, hear me. This is a prayer we can all say. This is not my prayer, but that of the whole body of Christ. Rather, it is said in the name of his body. When Christ was on earth he prayed in his human nature, and prayed to the Father in the name of his body, and when he prayed drops of blood flowed from his whole body. So it is written in the Gospel: Jesus prayed with earnest prayer, and sweated blood. What is this blood streaming from his whole body but the martyrdom of the whole Church?

Lord, I have cried to you, hear me; listen to the sound of my prayer, when I call upon you. Did you imagine that crying was over when you said: I have cried to you? You have cried out, but do not as yet feel free from care. If anguish is at an end, crying is at an end; but if the Church, the body of Christ, must suffer anguish until the end of time, it must not say only; I have cried to you, hear me; it must also say: Listen to the sound of my prayer, when I call upon you.

Let my prayer rise like incense in your sight; let the raising of my hands be an evening sacrifice.

This is generally understood of Christ, the head, as every Christian acknowledges. When day was fading into evening, the Lord laid down his life on the cross, to take it up again; he did not lose his life against his will. Here, too, we are symbolized. What part of him hung on the cross if not the part he had received from us? How could God the Father ever cast off and abandon his only Son, who is indeed one God with him? Yet Christ, nailing our weakness to the cross (where, as the Apostle says: Our old nature was nailed to the cross with him), cried out with the very voice of our humanity:My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The evening sacrifice is then the passion of the Lord, the cross of the Lord, the oblation of the victim that brings salvation the holocaust acceptable to God. In his resurrection he made this evening sacrifice a morning sacrifice. Prayer offered in holiness from a faithful heart rises like incense from a holy altar. Nothing is more fragrant than the fragrance of the Lord. May all who believe share in this fragrance.

Therefore, our old nature, in the words of the Apostle, was nailed to the cross with him in order, as he says, to destroy our sinful body, so that we may be slaves to sin no longer.

RESPONSORY          
Galatians 2:19-20

With Christ I have been nailed to the cross,
– and I live now no longer my own life,
but the life of Christ who lives in me.

I live by faith in the Son of God
who loved me and gave up his life for me.
– And I live now no longer my own life,
but the life of Christ who lives in me.

Pope Benedict XVI's final Angelus address 24 Feb. 2013

----- Forwarded Message -----

3 hours ago

From: Robert .....
Sent: Sunday, 24 February 2013, 14:03
Subject: Prayers for our Church

Dear Father Donald so much horrible news going around the media at the moment regarding our leaders its so upsetting i feel i need to ask you to pray hard for our church at this time i believe we are on the the way to some kind of cleansing of a size we have never seen before god help us               

   

 Pope Benedict XVI's final Angelus address delivered on Sunday to more than 200,000  thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square today

ZENIT

The world seen from Rome

Daily dispatch - February 24, 2013

ANGELUS

• On the Transfiguration
  The Lord is Calling me to Scale the Mountain,

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ANGELUS

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On the Transfiguration

The Lord is Calling me to Scale the Mountain,

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY, February 24, 2013 (Zenit.org) - Here is the translation of Pope Benedict XVI's final Angelus address delivered on Sunday to thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square today

* * *

Dear brothers and sisters!

Thank you for your affection!

• Today, the second Sunday of Lent, we have a particularly beautiful Gospel, that of the Lord’s transfiguration. 
• The evangelist Luke especially emphasizes the fact that Jesus is transfigured while he prays: Jesus’ is a profound experience of relationship with the Father during a kind of spiritual retreat on a high mountain together with Peter, James, and John, the 3 disciples who are always present in the moments of the Master’s divine manifestations (Luke 5:10, 8:51, 9:28). 
• The Lord, who a short time ago foretold his death and resurrection (Luke 9:22), offers to his disciples an anticipation of his glory. And in the transfiguration too, as in the baptism, the voice of the heavenly Father resounds: “This is my Son, the chosen one. Listen to him!” (Luke 9:35). 
• The presence then of Moses and Elijah, who represent the Law and the Prophets of the Old Covenant, is of great significance: the whole history of covenant is ordered to him, the Christ, who accomplishes a new “exodus” (Luke 9:31), not toward the promised land as in the time of Moses, but toward heaven. Peter’s words: “Master, how good it is for us to be here” (Luke 9:33), represent the impossible attempt to freeze such a mystical experience. St. Augustine comments: “[Peter] … on the mountain … had Christ as the food of his soul. Why should he want to come down to return to toil and suffering while there he was full of sentiments of a holy love for God that inspired him thus to holy actions?” (Sermon 78,3: PL 38,491).
• Meditating on this passage of the Gospel, we can take from it a very important teaching. First of all, there is the primacy of prayer, without which all of the work of the apostolate and charity is reduced to activism. During Lent we learn to give the right amount of time to both personal and communal prayer, which gives breath to our spiritual life. Moreover, to pray is not to isolate oneself from the world and its contradictions, as Peter wished to do on Tabor. Prayer, rather, leads us back to the journey, to action. “The Christian life,” I wrote in my Message for this Lent, “consists in continuously scaling the mountain to meet God and then coming back down, bearing the love and strength drawn from him, so as to serve our brothers and sisters with God’s own love” (n. 3).
    
• Dear brothers and sisters, I hear this Word of God addressed to me in a special way during this moment of my life. Thank you! The Lord is calling me to “scale the mountain,” to dedicate myself still more to prayer and to meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church – on the contrary, if God asks this of me, it is to serve the Church with the same dedication and the same love with which I have tried to do so hitherto, but in a way that is more adapted to my age and my strength.  
  Let us invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary: may she help us always to follow the Lord Jesus in prayer and in active charity.
• [Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted those present in different languages. In Italian he said:]
  Dear brothers and sisters!
• ... I thank everyone for the many expressions of gratitude, affection and closeness in prayer which I have received in these days. As we continue our Lenten journey towards Easter, may we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus the Redeemer, whose glory was revealed on the mount of the Transfiguration. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings!  

[Translation by Joseph Trabbic]

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Lent: February 24th Second Sunday of Lent

St. Peter is described as focal in the understanding in a lecture in our Annual Retreat. Fr. John OP assumed that the Transfiguration was located to the North.

See article below from Wikepedia.

The Franciscan Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in Israel. Mount Tabor is traditionally identified as the Mount of Transfiguration.

Lent: February 24th

Second Sunday of Lent

The Gospel is from St. Luke 9:28-36

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Raymond ....
Sent: Sunday, 24 February 2013, 13:02
Subject:  Homily ...          

TRANSFIGURATION  2011

It is part of joy and of the needs of human nature to have friends, and not only to have friends but to have, among our friends those who are in a way very special friends.  Jesus was no exception to this.  He had among his disciples three who were very specially close to him:  Peter, James and John.  On three special occasions in the Gospel story we read of them being more closely associated him than the other apostles.  There was the raising from the dead of the daughter of Jairus when he brought only them into the house with himself and the girls parents and there was the garden of Gethsemani when he drew them aside to pray close by him in his agony.

The third time was the scene described in today’s Gospel when Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain and was transfigured before them, with his face shining light the sun and his garments white as snow, he was leading them to an ever clearer knowledge of his divinity.  They did not yet, even after this wonderful moment of revelation, understand it – as is witnessed by the Gospel comment – “They saw no one when the vision passed, but only Jesus.” – but the picture was becoming ever more clear.

The fact about this vision that would lead the Apostles, when they “pondered on these things”, to believe in the divinity of the Master, was the presence of Moses and Elijah in the vision.

            The presence of Moses and Elijah in the vision would instinctively call to their minds the fact that these were the two great figures of the Old Testament who had each been granted a very special face to face vision of God.  Moses, on the mountain of God, Horeb, and Elijah at the mouth of his cave on the very same mountain.

            

Besides this wonderful clue to his divinity, Jesus was also teaching them something else.  He was revealing to them the glory destined, not only for his own sacred body, but also that which is destined for the bodies of us all for we are one body with him.  

Satan, “the father of lies” takes us to the graveside and points down into the pit of corruption and decay and says: “That is the destiny of your miserable bodies”.  

But Jesus takes us up to the mountain top and stands before us shining like the sun and says:  “This is your destiny!”   And we know that he is the absolute Truth

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Location of the mountain

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_of_Jesus#Location_of_the_mountain  

Main article: Mount of the Transfiguration

The Franciscan Church of the Transfiguration
on Mount Tabor in Israel. Mount Tabor is
traditionally identified as the Mount of Transfiguration.

None of the accounts identifies the "high mountain" of the scene by name.

Since the 3rd century, some Christians have identified Mount Tabor as the site of the Transfiguration, including Origen.^[41] Tabor has long been a place of Christian pilgrimage and is the site of the Church of the Transfiguration. In 1808, Henry Alford cast doubt on Tabor due to the possible continuing Roman utilization of a fortress which Antiochus the Great built on Tabor in BC219, and which Josephus records was in use by the Romans in the Jewish War.^[42] Others have countered that even if Tabor was fortified by Antiochus this does not rule out a transfiguration at the summit.^[43] Edward Greswell, however, writing in 1830, saw "no good reason for questioning the ancient ecclesiastical tradition, which supposes it to have been mount Tabor."^[44]

John Lightfoot rejects Tabor as too far but "some mountain near Caesarea-Philippi" ^[45] The usual candidate in this case is Mount Panium, Paneas, or Banias a small hill situated at the source of the Jordan, near the foot of which, Caesarea Philippi was built.^[46]

R. T. France (1987) notes that Mount Hermon is closest to Caesarea Philippi, mentioned in the previous chapter of Matthew.^[47] Likewise Meyboom (1861) identified "Djebel-Ejeik."^[48]but this may be a confusion with Jabal el Sheikh, the Arabic name for Mount Hermon.

H. A. Whittaker (1987) proposes that it was Mount Nebo primarily on the basis that it was the location where Moses viewed the promised land and a parallelism in Jesus' words on descent from the mountain of transfiguration; "You will say to this mountain (i.e. of transfiguration), ‘Move from here to there,’ (i.e. the promised land) and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.^[49]

ZENIT Lent Station Churches

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: ZENIT <infoenglish@zenit.org>
To: dailyhtml@list.zenit.org 
Sent: Friday, 22 February 2013, 20:49
Subject: [ZE130222] The world seen from Rome

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IN FOCUS

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Rome's Station Churches: Week I

Visit to Saint Peter's Basilica Significant as Church Awaits New Pontiff

By Ann Schneible

ROME, February 22, 2013 (Zenit.org) - The visitation of Saint Peter's Basilica, which takes place this week as part of the annual station church pilgrimage through Rome, holds special significance in these days as Catholics worldwide await the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the forthcoming election of a new Bishop of Rome.

Every morning throughout Lent (except on Sundays), priests and seminarians of the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) lead English-speaking pilgrims through the city to celebrate 7 a.m. Mass at one of the station churches, continuing a tradition that goes back to the early days of the Church. 

Concluding this week's station church pilgrimage is a visit to Saint Peter's Basilica. Built over the tomb of the first pope, Saint Peter the Apostle, the current basilica was completed in the 17th century to replace the original 4th century basilica – commissioned during the reign of Emperor Constantine – which had fallen into disrepair. The basilica also stands on the site of what was once an ancient Roman circus where many early Christians, and very likely St. Peter himself, were martyred. The obelisk that today is found at the center of Saint Peter's Square stood also at the center of this ancient circus.

Benedict and Peter

John and Ashley Noronha are experienced tour guides of Rome, known for having hosted the EWTN series, "Vatican Report's Art & Faith." They spoke with ZENIT about visiting St. Peter's Basilica as part of the Lenten station church pilgrimage, and the significance of such a visit during this unique time in Church history.

John Noronha, a professor of theology and art and architecture, noted the continuity between the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI and that of St. Peter. "When Pope Benedict was elected he said that his goal, and the theme and task of his papacy, was to discern the promptings of the Holy Spirit along with the whole Church. And then we see how, when he resigned, he told us that he was doing it out of love for the Church." 

Reflecting back to the first pope, John Noronha noted how St. Peter "was one of the Christians being persecuted, being sought out. He was leaving the city because that is what he thought he ought to do as the leader of the Christians, so he could continue shepherding the Church. He then had a mystical experience on the Appian Way and heard Christ say 'Quo Vadis?' – where are you going? Christ let him know that he needed to come back to Rome and be crucified. And that is what he did; he followed the promptings of Christ and came back."

"It is beautiful to see this continuity between the first pope and our present pope, who is trying to listen to the promptings of the Spirit and do things that the world would not understand. The early Christians probably wondered why Peter gave up his life for the sake of the faith. He could have been the strong leader for the early Christians to keep their faith and hope up. But instead, they lost not just Peter but Paul, and they must have felt that everything was coming to an end."

"But then," he added, "we know the end of the story."

Unchanged

Ashley Noronha, the Rome correspondent for the Relevant Radio Network and a professor of media training, leadership and communication, spoke about the significance of visiting St. Peter's Basilica, especially now as the Church awaits the resignation of Pope Benedict. "Every time I go into the basilica," she said, "I am struck with the realization of the profound continuity of our faith. There we were [yesterday] morning, standing above the tomb of St. Peter, the very first pope, while at the same time preparing to say goodbye to our beloved Holy Father, the 265th Pope. And this is the same place where we'll soon welcome the next successor of Peter. It's amazing to think that over that span of 2,000 years, the authority of the Papacy given to Peter by Christ hasn't changed one bit. And neither has our faith in Him."

"The magnificence of the Basilica reminds me of the steadfastness of the Church and the beauty of the splendor of God," she said.

Reflecting on the early Christians who would come to venerate the tomb of Peter, she noted how, in those days, "they came to Rome by boat, on horseback or on foot. It's hard for us to imagine how difficult it must have been." 

"As we journey to the churches each morning," she continued, "it's a reminder of the centuries of faithful pilgrims who did the same. And how we are eternally connected to those people by our faith and love of the Lord."

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Lent: February 23rd Memorial of St. Polycarp of Smyrna, bishop and martyr

It moves us deeply when, for example, we find in St. Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, the passage in which he reminisces:  
http://www.ibreviary.com/m/breviario.php?s=ufficio_delle_letture

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For the Commemoration of Saint Polycarp:

SECOND READING

From a letter on the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp by the Church of Smyrna
(Cap. 13, 2-15, 2; Funk 1, 297-299)

A rich and pleasing sacrifice

When the pyre was ready, Polycarp took off all his clothes and loosened his under-garment. He made an effort also to remove his shoes, though he had been unaccustomed to this, for the faithful always vied with each other in their haste to touch his body. Even before his martyrdom he had received every mark of honor in tribute to his holiness of life.

There and then he was surrounded by the material for the pyre. When they tried to fasten him also with nails, he said: “Leave me as I am. The one who gives me strength to endure the fire will also give me strength to stay quite still on the pyre, even without the precaution of your nails”. So they did not fix him to the pyre with nails but only fastened him instead. Bound as he was, with hands behind his back, he stood like a mighty ram, chosen out for sacrifice from a great flock, a worthy victim made ready to be offered to God.

Looking up to heaven, he said: “Lord, almighty God, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have come to the knowledge of yourself, God of angels, of powers, of all creation, of all the race of saints who live in your sight, I bless you for judging me worthy of this day, this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ, your anointed one, and so rise again to eternal life in soul and body, immortal through the power of the Holy Spirit. May I be received among the martyrs in your presence today as a rich and pleasing sacrifice. God of truth, stranger to falsehood, you have prepared this and revealed it to me and now you have fulfilled your promise.

“I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him be glory to you, together with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen”.

When he had said “Amen” and finished the prayer, the officials at the pyre lit it. But, when a great flame burst out, those of us privileged to see it witnessed a strange and wonderful thing. Indeed, we have been spared in order to tell the story to others. Like a ship’s sail swelling in the wind, the flame became as it were a dome encircling the martyr’s body. Surrounded by the fire, his body was like bread that is baked, or gold and silver white-hot in a furnace, not like flesh that has been burnt. So sweet a fragrance came to us that it was like that of burning incense or some other costly and sweet-smelling gum.

RESPONSORY
Revelation 2:8-9, 10

To the angel of the Church of Smyrna write this:
Thus says the Lord, the first and the last,
the one who was dead and now lives:
I know your suffering and your poverty,
but you are rich indeed!
– Be true to your faith until death,
and I will give you the crown of life.

Have no fear of the suffering you will have to endure.
The devil will send some of you to prison to be tested.
– Be true to your faith until death,
and I will give you the crown of life.

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http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-02-23#station

St. Polycarp of Smyrna
Polycarp had known those who had known Jesus, and was a disciple of St. John the Apostle, who had converted him around the year 80 AD. He taught, says his own pupil Irenaeus of Lyons, the things that he learned from the Apostles, which the Church hands down, which are true. Irenaeus, who as a young boy knew Polycarp, praised his gravity, holiness, and majesty of countenance. He had lived near Jerusalem and was proud of his early associations with the Apostles.

Polycarp became bishop of Smyrna and held the see for about 70 years. He was a staunch defender of orthodoxy and an energetic opponent of heresy, especially Marcionism and Valentinianism (the most influential of the Gnostic sects). Toward the end of his life he visited Pope St. Anicetus in Rome and, when they could not agree on a date for Easter, decided each would observe his own date. To testify his respect and ensure that the bonds of charity were unbroken, Anicetus invited Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in the papal chapel on this occasion. Polycarp suffered martyrdom with 12 others of his flock around the year 156.

—Excerpted from St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr by Fr. Paul Haffner (Inside the Vatican, February 2004)

Among the select few from apostolic times about whom we have some historical information is Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and one of the most glorious martyrs of Christian antiquity. His life and death are attested by the authentic "Acts" of his martyrdom (no similar account is older), as well as by other contemporary writings. It moves us deeply when, for example, we find in St. Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, the passage in which he reminisces:

"The memory of that time when as a youth I was with Polycarp in Asia Minor is as fresh in my mind as the present. Even now I could point to the place where he sat and taught, and describe his coming and going, his every action, his outward appearance, and his manner of discourse to the people. It seems as though I still heard him tell of his association with the apostle John and with others who saw the Lord, and as though he were still relating to me their words and what he heard from them about the Lord and His miracles. . . ."

On the day of his death (February 23) the Martyrology recounts with deep reverence:

"At Smyrna, the death of St. Polycarp. He was a disciple of the holy apostle John, who consecrated him bishop of that city; and there he acted as the primate of all Asia Minor. Later, under Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, he was brought before the tribunal of the proconsul; and when all the people in the amphitheater cried out against him, he was handed over to be burned to death. But since the fire caused him no harm, he was put to death by the sword. Thus he gained the crown of martyrdom. With him, twelve other Christians, who came from Philadelphia, met death by martyrdom in the same city."

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.

Patron: Against ear ache, dysentery.

Things to Do:

• Read the Golden Legend account of the life of St. Polycarp and this life of St. Polycarpfrom The Early Church Fathers website. Read an account of his martyrdom.
• Read St. Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians.

Breviary Friday, 22 February 2013 The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle

Office - Nunraw

http://www.ibreviary.com/m/breviario.php 

Breviary

Friday, 22 February 2013

The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle

Office of Readings

SECOND READING

From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Sermo 4 de natali ipsius, 2-3: PL 54, 149-151)

The Church of Christ rises on the firm foundation of Peter’s faith

Out of the whole world one man, Peter, is chosen to preside at the calling of all nations, and to be set over all the apostles and all the fathers of the Church. Though there are in God’s people many shepherds, Peter is thus appointed to rule in his own person those whom Christ also rules as the original ruler. Beloved, how great and wonderful is this sharing of his power that God in his goodness has given to this man. Whatever Christ has willed to be shared in common by Peter and the other leaders of the Church, it is only through Peter that he has given to others what he has not refused to bestow on them.

The Lord now asks the apostles as a whole what men think of him. As long as they are recounting the uncertainty born of human ignorance, their reply is always the same.

But when he presses the disciples to say what they think themselves, the first to confess his faith in the Lord is the one who is first in rank among the apostles.

Peter says: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replies: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. You are blessed, he means, because my Father has taught you. You have not been deceived by earthly opinion, but have been enlightened by inspiration from heaven. It was not flesh and blood that pointed me out to you, but the one whose only-begotten Son I am.

He continues: And I say to you. In other words, as my Father has revealed to you my godhead, so I in my turn make known to you your pre-eminence. You are Peter: though I am the inviolable rock, the cornerstone that makes both one, the foundation apart from which no one can lay any other, yet you also are a rock, for you are given solidity by my strength, so that which is my very own because of my power is common between us through your participation.

And upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. On this strong foundation, he says, I will build an everlasting temple. The great height of my Church, which is to penetrate the heavens, shall rise on the firm foundation of this faith.

The gates of hell shall not silence this confession of faith; the chains of death shall not bind it. Its words are the words of life. As they lift up to heaven those who profess them, so they send down to hell those who contradict them.

Blessed Peter is therefore told: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth is also bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.

The authority vested in this power passed also to the other apostles, and the institution established by this decree has been continued in all the leaders of the Church. But it is not without good reason that what is bestowed on all is entrusted to one. For Peter received it separately in trust because he is the prototype set before all the rulers of the Church.

Missal

Preface

PREFACE OF APOSTLES I

THE APOSTLES, SHEPHERDS OF GOD’S PEOPLE

The following Preface is said in Masses of the Apostles, especially of Saints Peter and Paul.

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.

V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.

V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right and just.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For you, eternal Shepherd, do not desert your flock,
but through the blessed Apostles
watch over it and protect it always,
so that it may be governed
by those you have appointed shepherds
to lead it in the name of your Son.

And so, with Angels and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominions,
and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,
we sing the hymn of your glory,
as without end we acclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Lent: February 22nd Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, apostle

 

---- Forwarded Message -----

From: DGO <noreply@evzo.org>

To: Donald ...

Sent: Thursday, 21 February 2013, 17:03

Subject: The Daily Gospel

 

Friday, 22 February 2013  

The Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle - Feast

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 16:13-19.

....Jesus said to him in reply, "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."

Commentary of the day : 

Pope Benedict XVI 

General Audience of 07/06/2006 (trans. © copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana rev. ; cf DC no.2361, p. 614) 

« I tell you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church»

"I tell you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.... I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Mt 16:18-19). In themselves, the three metaphors that Jesus uses are crystal clear: Peter will be the rocky foundation on which he will build the edifice of the Church; he will have the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to open or close it to people as he sees fit; lastly, he will be able to bind or to loose, in the sense of establishing or prohibiting whatever he deems necessary for the life of the Church. It is always Christ's Church, not Peter's. Thus, vivid images portray what the subsequent reflection will describe by the term: "primacy of jurisdiction".

This pre-eminent position that Jesus wanted to bestow upon Peter is also encountered after the Resurrection: Jesus charges the women to announce it especially to Peter (cf. Mk 16:7)... Moreover, the fact that several of the key texts that refer to Peter can be traced back to the context of the Last Supper, during which Christ conferred upon Peter the ministry of strengthening his brethren (cf. Lk 22: 31ff.), shows that the ministry entrusted to Peter was one of the constitutive elements of the Church, which was born from the commemoration of the Pasch celebrated in the Eucharist.

This contextualization... also points to the ultimate meaning of this Primacy: Peter must be the custodian of communion with Christ for all time. He must guide people to communion with Christ; he must ensure that the net does not break, and consequently that universal communion endures. Only together can we be with Christ, who is Lord of all. Thus, Peter is responsible for guaranteeing communion with Christ with the love of Christ, guiding people to fulfill this love in everyday life.

Chronicling the Last Days of a Pontificate

Donate Shop Our eBooks Shop Amazon Chronicling the Last Days of a Pontificate Dear Donald, With less than ten days remaining in the pontificate of Benedict XVI, the best explanation of the Pope's resignation is still the one he gave himself. But could he have relied more on his staff? See Phil Lawler's analysis: The real story behind the Pope's resignation. Benedict's own explanation of declining strength was corroborated yesterday by the noted German journalist, Peter Seewald, who knows the Pope well. But the obvious is often rejected in favor of bizarre theories and misconceptions. Phil continues to separate the wheat from the chaff: Popular misconceptions, II Perceptive Commentary: Warren, Douthat, Henneberger, Horowitz, Oko We also continue to collect Benedict's words of wisdom. Among the addresses added to our library in the last few days: Weekly catechesis: Human Intelligence Can Find Key to Understanding the World in Sacred Scripture Ash Wednesday audience: Do Not Give In to Temptation to Instrumentalize God At a seminary in Rome: Lectio Divina of the Holy Father Benedict XVI Meanwhile, while there was no rest for journalists on the Vatican beat yesterday, it was a national political holiday in the United States. This prompted me to reflect onPresidents' Day: Fame and the Law of the Gift. Special feasts are relatively sparse during Lent, but we have two which tie in with our papal theme this week: The great medieval reformer, Peter Damian, who insisted on obedience to the successor of Peter, is celebrated on Thursday. And the feast of theChair of Peter comes on Friday. In closing, I sent a message around today explaining CatholicCulture.org's regular, systematic, inevitable, monthly need for user support. I ask you to take that email seriously as we spread ourselves thin to cover the resignation and the conclave. Thanks! Jeff Mirus President Trinity Communications To unsubscribe from this list or all lists, click Adjust Email Newsletter Settings. www.CatholicCulture.org - Email: contact@catholicculture.org To learn more or make a tax-deductible contribution, visithttp://www.catholicculture.org/about/donor_information_center/ today. Trinity Communications - P.O. Box 582, Manassas, VA 20108, USA [Sent to nunrawdonald@yahoo.com]

Among the scores of editorial commentaries that have appeared since Pope Benedict announced his plans to resign, a handful have been particular insightful. Among the best:

• ”Benedict XVI’s decision for the Church's mission and the truth of the world.” Father Bernardo Cervellera of the AsiaNews service sees the Pope’s bold decision as a product of great faith. Having prayed intensely over the decision, the Holy Father has concluded that this is God’s will, and nothing else matters. The Pope’s resignation, then, illustrated in one dramatic action the attitude that he would recommend to the faithful at his public audience on Ash Wednesday. Father Cervellera writes:

  In taking this step, he has become a master for all Christians, priests, bishops, cardinals, who consider their active role in certain tasks, duties and organizations "essential". With his choice of life Pope Benedict XVI is telling us that the effectiveness of our existence lies in our placing ourseleves completely in Christ's hands, the true guarantee of all fruitfulness.

• ”Benedict’s reformation.” John O’Sullivan (who was my boss many years ago) writes in The Spectator that the Pope’s decision to resign shows that he has placed the evangelical demands of the Church ahead of the political pressures of the papacy. O’Sullivan suggests that “his resignation is the latest (perhaps the final) stage in the papacy’s two-century shedding of temporal power and its trappings of spiritual monarchy.”
• ”Confounding critics to the end.” Michael Kelly of the Irish Catholic believes that Pope Benedict has become exhausted after years of fighting a largely successful battle against heavy odds, and with precious little help from his staff. Reflecting on the clumsiness and inertia displayed by the Roman Curia during this pontificate, Kelly concludes: “Benedict has been spectacularly badly served by those who should have been aiding him in the governance of the Church.”