Missing the Chair of St. Peter

Ash Wednesday fell on February 22nd this year and we missed the great feast of the Chair of St. Peter.  This time last year, the feast did not seem significant to me.  But in October, I had the great prevlidge of participating in a mass in St. Peter;s Bascicilla in Vatican City at the Altar of the Chair of St, Peter. The mass celebrated the deaconiate ordination of men from the North American College. 

The reliquary, created by Bernini, contains a relic of St. Peter's chair.  St. Peter's chair represents the authority by which Christ gave authority to Peter.  The man who sits in St. Peter's chair has the authority of Christ.

And by willing ourselves to that authroity, we can turn away from the world, and center our lives on Christ and His will for our lives.  Only by yielding to that authority can I even begin to fulfill the Lenten observances that I had set for myself.