February 22
Chair of Peter
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1299

"This feast commemorates Christ’s choosing Peter to sit in his place as the servant-authority of the whole Church"

Comment:

Like the committee chair, this chair refers to the occupant, not the furniture. Its first occupant stumbled a bit, denying Jesus three times and hesitating to welcome gentiles into the new Church. Some of its later occupants have also stumbled a bit, sometimes even failed scandalously. As individuals, we may sometimes think a particular pope has let us down. Still, the office endures as a sign of the long tradition we cherish and as a focus for the universal Church.

Quote:

Peter described our Christian calling in the opening of his First Letter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...” (1 Peter 1:3a).

Reflection
This also happens to be the birthday of George Washington (1732)
These two men were extraordinary leaders.
One was chosen by Jesus to lead his Church.
The other was chosen unanimously by his community to lead a new form of government.
In our day and age, the Church and the democracy continue.
Let's pray for leaders today who will carry on the
tradition of the founders. crsr