Dear
Parishioners,
St. Peter the Apostle (a.k.a. Simon) was personally chosen by Christ to head what would become
known as the Catholic Church. “ . . .
You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church.” (Mt.
16:18) Peter was a weak,
imperfect man. He denied Christ three times. He fled the crucifixion scene.
Peter fell asleep when Christ asked him (and others) to pray with Him in the
garden of Gethsemane. Christ strongly rebuked Peter when he tried to contradict
Christ’s prediction of His future suffering and cross. “[Jesus] turned and said
to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking
not as God does, but as human beings do.’” (Mt. 16: 23) Nevertheless, Peter became the leader
that Christ wanted for His Church.
St. Paul (a.k.a. Saul) initially persecuted the early Church:
“Now
Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went
to the high priest and asked him for letters to the
synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged
to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.” (Acts
9: 1-2)
He
had some culpability for the death of St. Stephen. “Now Saul was consenting to
[Stephen’s] execution.” (Acts 8: 1) Yet, Christ had other plans for him. Eventually he become
known as the Apostle to the Gentiles
willing to go far and wide to proclaim Jesus
is Lord. (See Phil. 2:11)
What
lessons can we learn from Christ’s choice of these two men? First, Christ does
not necessarily choose only the perfect, the holy, the best or the brightest.
He chooses sinners, the weak, the lowly, and the seemingly insignificant. He
chooses whomever He wills in spite of what others may think. After all, He is
God.
Next,
Christ has the power to transform even the worst possible situation into
something holy and salvific. Peter and Paul were sinners who became saints. They
did not initially act in accordance with what Christ intended for His Church. However,
with the grace of God’s transformative love, they became holy. They learned to
love Christ. They suffered and died for Him. They are officially recognized as saints. The Church’s history is filled
with many such scenarios.
Additionally,
we see how it is the power of Christ
that works through these men and sometimes in spite of them. Peter could only
walk on water when he kept his eyes focused on Christ. Otherwise he sank. (See
Mt. 14: 22-33) Paul’s
zeal for his religion was initially misdirected to destroy Christianity until
Christ turned him around and allowed him to see clearly. He then became one of
Christianity’s greatest proponents and missionaries.
Tradition
has it that Peter was eventually crucified
like Jesus. However, he requested to die upside down because he was not worthy
to die in the manner his Lord had died. Paul, after a time of imprisonment, was
beheaded. Peter is symbolized by keys illustrating his binding and loosing
power as head of the Church. Paul is symbolized by the sword indicating the power Sacred Scripture has to pierce one’s
being (See
Heb. 4: 12) as well as
the manner of his death.
As
we honor these two great Church leaders on this solemnity, may we aspire to be transformed
in like manner by Jesus into zealous disciples.
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor
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