In honor of today’s feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Rome, I would like to remind our readers that Brother Francis gave eight one hour classes on the five chapters of the First Epistle of St. Peter. Today’s Epistle from Holy Mass is taken from the first seven verses of that inspired Letter.
It is not easy to find a commentary on St. Peter’s epistles. In fact, the epistles of St. Paul are usually given much more attention by exegetes. Brother Francis, however, always had a tremendous appreciation for the “catholic” epistles of Sts. Peter, John, James, and Jude — catholic, meaning that these Epistles were not written for any one individual Church, but to the universal Church. That Peter’s audience is the whole Church is readily seen in both of his Epistles, as also is his authority as supreme pastor of the Church militant. Brother Francis gives one fascinating hour of exposition to each of the five chapters of this first Epistle, which was written about the year 48. It is almost as if he is introducing the first pope as a living author, sharing the podium with him, and stirring our hearts and minds together with the impulsive son of Jona (Simon Bar Jona), man of faith and man of repentance. Although the author of this letter was inspired directly by the Holy Ghost, Brother Francis points out that, humble fisherman that he was, he was also well versed in the sacred scriptures. Our apostle’s holy exhortations are amply peppered with citations from the prophets and Psalms, which he and the other apostles knew well, as they did all the scriptures, even before they were called by Our Lord. If you want to “satisfy every one that asketh you a reason for that hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15) then let these five lectures put the wisdom of St. Peter in your mind and heart.
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