Remembering the apostles
In our liturgical calendar, Feb. 22 is normally celebrated as the feast of the Chair of St. Peter. However, this year it is liturgically celebrated as the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, the last Sunday before Lent begins. As we continue to celebrate the Jubilee Year of St. Paul, we take time to reflect on the fact and meaning of the significant relationship of Peter and Paul. We recall that Pope Benedict XVI instituted this Pauline Year (2008-09), which began and concludes on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29.
Commemorating a piece of furniture can seem to be an inappropriate focus for a liturgical celebration. The Chair of St. Peter actually represents the pastoral and teaching authority of St. Peter - and of his successors - over both the diocese of Rome and the universal Church. It originated as a commemoration of deceased relatives and friends during which a chair was left empty in their honor. As the exact date of Peter's martyrdom was unknown, it was also observed on this date. In the fourth century, it developed into this specific celebration.
The Gospels show that Peter was gifted with the role of primacy among the apostles. He was the first disciple whom Jesus called, consistently listed first, and spokesman for the others. In our Catholic tradition, the biblical basis for placing the primacy of leading and teaching the Church on Peter is embedded in three texts: "...you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church...." (Mt 16:13-19); "...you must strengthen your brothers" (Lk 22:31-32); and, "Feed my lambs... Tend my sheep... Feed my sheep" (Jn 22:15-17).
The relationship between Peter and Paul can clarify how the ministry of Peter was understood in the first century. Paul insists that his apostolic credentials came directly from the risen Lord and so he began his mission without first conferring with the apostles in Jerusalem (Gal 1:17). However, Paul strongly declares that he was not acting alone and was in communion with the apostles, especially Peter whom he met three times: twice in Jerusalem and once in Antioch.
Paul first went to meet Peter in Jerusalem three years after his conversion during which he conferred and stayed with him for fifteen days (Gal 1:18). Their second meeting came fourteen years later. Having preached the gospel to the Gentiles without requiring circumcision before entry to the church, Paul wanted to be certain that he was acting in agreement with the Jerusalem authorities. In a sign of apostolic collegiality, the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) was convened and here James, Peter and John acknowledged the grace of Paul's mission and ratified his practice with a handshake of fellowship extended to him and Barnabas (Gal 2:1-10).
Paul's third encounter with Peter happened in Antioch. Paul narrates how he strongly confronted Peter, as he was wrong in withdrawing from table fellowship with Gentile Christians because of pressure from Jewish Christians who arrived later from Jerusalem (Gal 2:11-14). While Paul highly respected Peter's authority, he related to him in a way not weighed down with what we know as contemporary ecclesiastical protocol. However supreme Peter's recognized authority, he too, stood under the judgment of the Gospel. So, Paul demanded that the practice sanctioned in Jerusalem be enforced.
Paul and Peter had their paths converge for the final time in Rome. Ancient traditions tell us that both of them died as martyrs in the imperial capital. The Letter of Clement, for example, notes how the two apostles met opposition in Rome and eventually were denounced before the Roman authorities. The two leaders were executed during the reign of Emperor Nero and were buried in places where the two Basilicas in their honor now stand: St. Peter's and St. Paul's Outside the Walls.
That Peter and Paul were martyred and buried in Rome led to the primacy of honor that the rest of the world's dioceses gave to the diocese of Rome in the early centuries. The Bishop of Rome was honored as the Vicar of Peter and Paul. Two millennia later, the Bishop of Rome has evolved into just the Successor of Peter but the Vicar of Christ with its primacy of power and jurisdiction symbolized in the Chair of St. Peter today. In this Jubilee Year of St. Paul at the beginning of the third millennium, is it not possible to reframe the papacy, retrieve its lost Pauline dimension, and reorient it to its original and humbler office as Vicar of Peter and Paul? Then, we celebrate not just the Chair of St. Peter but of St. Paul too.
By Father Thaddeus Noel G. Laput, CM
Father Laput, a Vincentian priest, is parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mercy, Daly City.
From February 20, 2009 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
