A SUBDEACON REFLECTS ON THE FEAST OF THE DAY
January 16, 2019
Subdeacon Anton Sloboda, who offers reflections at the Wednesday morning Divine Liturgy at Holy Eucharist Parish in Winnipeg, shared some thoughts on the Feast of the Veneration of St. Peter's Chains (16 January)
A REFLECTION ON THE FEAST OF THE VENERATION OF THE CHAINS OF THE HOLY APOSTLE PETER
- Subdeacon Anton
In today's Gospel we heard how the Apostle Peter reacted to the message of Jesus about His violent death and about His resurrection. Peter could not imagine that Jesus, who performed so many miracles and in whom, he saw the true Messiah could be killed, and maybe more so, he could not accept at that moment, the words of Jesus about His rising from the dead on the third day.
We also know that later, Peter would deny Jesus three times. Yet after all of Peter's misconduct, after the resurrection of Jesus, Peter became the leader of the Apostles and he is remembered as the Rock of the Church. We might ask ourselves, how would it be possible? But the answer could be quite simple - a true disciple of Christ is not someone who never has doubts and is not someone who does not make serious mistakes, but rather someone who, regardless of their weaknesses, has the courage to stand up for Christ's truth and lead others by example of their own daily life. All of us are sinners, but what matters is the overall direction of our life and the way we conclude it.
If we take a look in our calendars, we will notice that the Church has dedicated today to the veneration of Saint Peter's Chains. In Rome there is a basilica called in Italian, San Pietro in Vincoli where the remains of St. Peter's Chains are kept. The chains are believed to be preserved from St. Peter's imprisonment both in Jerusalem and in Rome.
Worldwide there are over 100 churches that were named after St. Peter-in-Chains - three of them in Canada!
Thus, we see that the Church remembers Peter for his imprisonment for Christ and remembers his chains, not his betrayal of Christ. The chains and Peter's loyalty to Christ until his death - this what matters for God and for us today.
Sooner or later all of us will be gone from this world but do we think about what we would be remembered for most? Which of our material objects would remind others about our personality - most likely not chains, but will it be our cellphone, our remote control for TV, maybe our rosary or bible, maybe our garden or the trees we planted over the years. But even if we don't leave behind any special objects, what is important is that we leave a legacy that is not perishable - our personal example of taking seriously the teaching of Christ and the love of Christ that we share with those around us. Let ask St. Peter to help us in this.
Amen
