Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

"And So I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 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."--Matthew 16:17-19

I wonder if Simon Peter was terrified when he heard these words or more likely, had no idea at that time what the Lord was expecting of him. It is almost at this time that Simon Peter also tries to get the Lord to not go to Jerusalem and Jesus says to him to "Get behind thee, Satan." which also must have stung Peter more than just a little....I know it would have stung me. The first reading today is from 1 Peter 5 and St. Peter exhorts his readers to not lord it over those assigned to you. That sounds like advice from someone who has done that very thing and been rebuked for it. I like hearing the exploits of St. Peter and of his fully understandable humanness. It gives me hope that I might still be able to accomplish something wonderful for the Lord, in spite of myself. I thank you, Lord for the gift of St. Peter and for choosing him to be the rock upon which you built your church. I pray for his succuesor, Pope Benedict XVI, that he might exercise wisdom and do your will always.
Thank you for all your blessings this day. Help me to continue to overcome my faults and to find my way to who you want me to be as we journey together this Lent. You are wonderful and I love you and adore you and give you thanks and praise for all you are and do.

Beloved one--
In reading this passage and celebrating this Feast day of my church...the church I founded upon my beloved Simon Peter, you must realize that it is not your faults I look at but your heart of love and your willingness to do whatever I ask of you. Think of St. Peter when you need inspiration and love and understanding. I did not love him less because of his faults but more and also saw that in spite of these faults, he could and would be the leader I needed to found my church. He learned humility but also had the strength of character to follow me wherever I asked him to go.....very far away from his comfort zone. Think on this and be thrilled that I also ask you to leave your comfort zone and follow me into the wilderness. Go in peace and love, my sweet one. I love you.