You are Peter, and upon your confession and faith, my Church will have its foundation. The Church celebrates today the feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle. It is a feast that celebrates not the person of St. Peter as such but rather the mission of teacher and pastor conferred upon him by Jesus Christ. The Church holds this feast in honor of the authority that was conferred upon Peter and those who were to succeed him as leaders of the Church. It is a celebration of the unity of the Church founded upon the apostles. Peter, on behalf of the other apostles, received the mandate from Christ not only to be a sign of the unity of the Church, but also the instrument of this unity. As such, it is a celebration of responsibility as opposed to a privilege. We believe that this responsibility now rests with our bishops as pastors and teachers of the flock of Christ, and in a special way with the pope who leads this group as its captain. The foregoing notwithstanding, Peter as an individual remains relevant and significant in understanding today’s feast.
Peter was not only among the first disciples of Christ. He was not only among the three who were always handpicked by Jesus to accompany him to those places where Jesus only wanted a few to be with him. Peter also comes to us as the first among equals. This might be because he was one of the elders in the band (as portrayed in Art). It can also be because of his tendency to speak on behalf of the others (our Gospel reading for today). Most importantly, we always think of Peter being the first among equals because of Jesus giving him the keys of the kingdom. But even this answer only leads to more questions: why was he given the key? Why not James or John? Even after Peter had denied Jesus, Jesus still entrusted him with the care of the young Church (cf. John 21:15-17). Why Peter?
Well, one way of looking at it is that Jesus had to pick one, and it happened to be Peter. Had he picked John or James or Andrew, we would still be asking the same questions. The other reason might be Peter's expression of faith. Jesus' mandate as we have heard from the reading today, comes after Peter's profession of faith. Peter might have professed Jesus as the Christ while not understanding what he was saying (as he did on the mountain of transfiguration). He might have professed Jesus as the Christ because of his tendency to always "want to speak first." He might have done so because the others were not ready or were shy to speak. Whatever the reason, Peter professed Jesus as the Christ of God, and Jesus credited it as a revelation from God. It was a revelation that charted the disciples on a new course, a course that would define their lives forever.
Peters' profession of faith was just the beginning. A faithful living of that faith was going to require the help of the Holy Spirit. When we received our baptism, we joined Peter in professing Jesus as the Christ of God, and we too were given a mandate by Jesus. It is a mandate which we carry out when we unite ourselves to the apostles by adhering to their teachings and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Like Peter, we too must be ready to accompany Jesus on his missions even when we don’t understand. Peter’s faith might not have been the strongest, but he was willing to follow Jesus to the very end. May our profession of faith propel us to the heights such as Peter was.