Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (16: 13 – 19) in which Jesus says, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it”.

Fr Paul says today, we celebrate a very special day called the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. This day helps us remember St Peter, who was chosen by Jesus to be the leader of His friends, the apostles. It’s a time to think about how important St Peter was in the early Church and how he helps us today.

St Peter was a fisherman, and when Jesus asked Peter to follow Him, Peter left everything and became one of Jesus’ closest friends. Jesus even called him the “rock” on which He would build His Church. This means that St Peter had a very important job to do, guiding and leading the Church as its first pope.

The “Chair” of St Peter is not just a regular chair like the ones we sit on. The chair represents St Peter’s leadership and the special job he had to guide the Church. St Peter had a special role in God’s family and this chair reminds us that he was chosen by Jesus to be a strong leader for everyone.

St Peter’s faith and leadership show us how we can be to each other. Just like St Peter led with love and kindness, we can also be leaders in our own lives by being kind and helpful to our friends and family and those around us.

On this day, Fr Paul invites us to ask, ‘St Peter… Pray for us!’.