Saint Peter’s Chair
1 Peter 5:1-4 | Psalm 22(23) | Matthew 16:13-19
Tonight, I’ll be chairing my last parish Liturgical Committee meeting. It’s been a quiet two-year tenure, mostly because liturgical functions aren’t really open to much debate or innovation.
It certainly wasn’t as eventful as St. Peter’s time as first among the apostles. None of the aspects of the faith we practice today had been codified at that point; St. Peter had to get the Christian ball rolling, and defend it against the Sanhedrin twice, eventually being flogged for his troubles before embarking on his missionary journey to Rome and his martyrdom.
Me, I just took a 2-year Sunday stroll in a local park.
I hope I made a difference, or at least didn’t make matters worse. Now that we’ll have a new parish priest, it’s a good time to get off this chair and continue with my own liturgical duties.
That said, I can’t help but recall Jesus’ last words to Peter in John’s gospel:
‘I tell you most solemnly, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.’ (John 21:18)
Lord, as I relinquish this chair, help me take stock of what I learned from this experience, and apply it to whatever You want me to do next. You are Wisdom, Lord, and I know nothing. Amen.