Perhaps to many Catholics celebrating a feast entitled the Chair of St. Peter may seem a little strange.
This feast, however, is actually a celebration of the authority of our Church. The authority is symbolized in the chair of Peter. And, there are two particular chairs that become involved in this feast. The first is the marble chair located in the Basilica of St. Peter behind the main (or Pope's) altar. It is encased in the elaborate Bernini art work. The other, a wooden chair, is a more movable chair, also located in St. Peter's Basilica along the right side of the nave as one approaches the main or Pope's altar. It is the place where the foot of Peter is touched by millions of tourist each year. This is an artist's design. The real portable chair is kept in the baptistery and brought out into the main sanctuary for this feast day. From these chairs, it is believed, Peter and the early Popes anointed and confirmed new believers.
It has been suggested that the two chairs serve well the Church and her dual mission: the support and nurturing of believers and the mission of the apostles to bring new converts to the Church.
There is an interesting play with the marble and wooden chairs and their significance to our Church today. Marble and wood are found in most churches today, modern and ancient. Many of our altars are made of marble or wood. We walk into churches on marble floors and find themselves a place to sit on a wooden chair or pew. No different is the Chair of St. Peter.
When Jesus appointed Peter to be the head of the Church, he raised Peter and his special mission a place of permanence and honor. But, like all of us, Peter was given a mission of service and thereby called to the way of the wooden cross, being roped to an upside down cross, where he died.
This feast, then, should be one that encourages us to a deeper understanding of our faith: that we are nurtured by the tradition and teachings of the Church and then are sent forth into our world as modern day apostles distinguished by our love of God and our sisters and brothers in the Church and those beyond the call of our faith.
