Today the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, remembering Christ choosing Peter as the apostle who would lead His Church.
Naturally, the Gospel for today's Mass is Matthew 16:13-19, the story of Simon declaring Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, Jesus renaming Simon to Peter and declaring that He would build His Church on Peter.
It's sometimes argued that the Rock Jesus refers to is not Peter himself, but his statement of faith that Jesus is indeed the Messiah and Son of God. This fails for a few reasons. One, Jesus renames Peter. In the Old Testament, this is a sign of a new Covenental relationship. (Think Abram becoming Abraham or Jacob becoming Israel.) Also, Peter was a brand new name at the time and Peter means "rock." (Jimmy Akin has some good articles on this front, as well as some helpful links to other articles on the same topic. See here and here.)
Another point in favor of the uniqueness of the Petrine ministry is Christ's promise of the Keys of Heaven to Peter alone, as noted in the above Gospel reading. While he makes a promise to Peter in Mt 16:19 that "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven," he also makes a similar promise to all of the apostles in Mt 18:18: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (This one of the biblical supports for the sacrament of Confession.) Only Peter, though, is promised the Keys of Heaven.
What do the Keys of Heaven signify, though? I think popular culture would immediately think of Saint Peter standing in front of the Pearly Gates seeing who does and doesn't get it, a kind of Heavenly bellhop. A good idea when interpreting the Bible, though, is to see where else a similar notion is contained in the Bible. Where do we see keys a symbol?
I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.
The keys of the House of David are clearly a reference to the authority of the House of David. We can see that Peter, and Peter alone, separate from the other Apostles, is being given the authority of Heaven. In fact, this reading is used as the Mid-morning reading for Daytime Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours on this feast.
Additionally, naming Simon "The Rock" in some way unites Peter with the mission of God. In Deuteronomy 32 alone, God is referred to as "Rock" at least five times. Jesus must have had a special calling for Peter to give him such a name that those familiar with the Torah would immediately associate with God.
Further, when reading the Gospels and Acts, Peter is always listed first among the Apostles, speaks for them, and clearly has a leadership role among them. That leadership role is continued today by his successors who sit upon the Chair of Peter.
Read more about the Chair of Peter:
Pope Benedict's General Audience Address last year on this feast
Crossposted at Gazizza.net
