The Chair of St.Peter
Readings:
1 Peter 5:1-4
Matthew 16:13-19
Reflection:
In the first Reading Peter calls us to be shepherds of the flock of God that is entrusted to us. No more, no less.
Who is entrusted to me? The obvious answer for parents is of course their children. And increasingly amongst my friends, it is our parents, whose care is now entrusted to us. Do our work colleagues or neighbours come into this equation? Where do we draw the line? Perhaps there is no line. Perhaps I am called to ‘shepherd’ all those I come across in my daily life.
Peter calls us to to shepherd gladly, with joy, without reward. Not an easy task. But Peter has a right to demand this because it is what was demanded of him. Jesus called him to be the rock and it is with authority that we are called to share in the shepherding of the flock.
Peter’s simple but profound acknowledgment of Jesus as the Christ, seems to be the turning point in his role as leader of the mission that Jesus entrusts to the disciples. The keys to the kingdom come with the duty to serve, to feed the sheep, to seek out the lost and to joyfully witness to the good news.
Let’s pray in a special way today for Pope Franics, our Shepherd leader and for each of us, that we may also have the courage to truly shepherd those entrusted to our care.
Margaret Bentley is a Salesian Sister and is currently the Academic Manager at the English Language Studies for Pastoral Ministry (ELSPM) begun by the Passionists in 2014 to enable their students to learn English before continuing to the Novitiate or theological studies.