Mt 16:13-19
13When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 18And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
I will give you the keys to the kigdom of heaven: Today is better called the feast of the Keys of Peter, rather than Chair of Peter, for Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. That is what the keys mean: Peter is made Chairman. He is always the first to answer, the first to dive, the first to jump—even when it means being hurt and being put to shame for his aggressiveness and impulsiveness!
In spite of his shortcomings, Peter is not afraid to dare and take risks. And he must simply laugh off his mistakes. That is why he is Chair of the Board of Twelve. While the others wait and watch, Peter steps into the water and asks the Lord to catch him!
It is said that there are three kinds of people: those who watch what happens, those who wonder what happened, and those who make things happen. Peter belongs to the third kind. Of course, he has Jesus as friend and idol.
Why, we have Jesus, too—enough reason to dare and take risks like Peter. That is the key or, better, the chair!