Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter
February 22, 2021
Daily Reading from the USCCB: First Peter 5:1-4
Audio file
The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter takes precedence over Ordinary Time. Readings from Sirach resume tomorrow.
In pagan Rome family members commemorated their ancestors by holding a banquet at which an empty chair was provided for the ancestor being given the principal honors. Gradually this custom was assumed by the Church. Today’s date was chosen to honor St. Peter, father of the church in Rome. Peter’s fatherhood persists in the person of the pope.
In the reading from First Peter we hear the first pope instructing the leaders of the Church of his time. Lead the flock with kindness he says, with the care that Christ wants it to have. It’s appropriate today to pray for the pope and the fatherhood he exercises.
