“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.” We hear Jesus speak these words to Peter in Matthew’s Gospel today as we celebrate the feast of the Chair of Peter. It is not the actual physical "chair" that we celebrate today, but rather Peter the Apostle and his function within the group of apostles and within the early Church. As we know, this developed into the office of the Pope which Pope Francis occupies today.
I remember that when the news of Pope Benedict's resignation was announced by the Vatican in 2013, I was approached by a couple of reporters in Tupelo where I was stationed as a priest, asked about the impact that the pope has on our local parishes here in Mississippi. And indeed the Pope has a great impact on us as Catholics. Whereas some Protestant denominations are very loosely structured in terms of hierarchy, our pope is an active leader who has a very real role in the lives of Catholics. The dogma and doctrine he declares, the reflections and statements he makes, his style and the topics he emphasizes during his pontificate, all of this has a great impact on us as Catholics. May we pray with St Peter today, uniting our prayers with his. May we pray for Pope Francis and for his leadership of our Church.
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