Great Men of God

Do you know that there are  different kinds of Catholics in the one Church established by Jesus Christ? We all believe the  same teachings  about  God  and religion. We all follow the  leadership of our Holy Father. But the  ways we worship  at Mass and the feast days  we celebrate are different. Each of these different groups of Catholic is called arite.

Most Catholics,  like us, belong to the  Roman Rite  and are known as Roman Catholics. Many others belong to the  Byzantine Rite  and are called by various names like  Greek  or  Ukrainian Catholics.

Today we honor two saints who are the  founders  and patrons of the  Church of the City of Rome.

They are the holy Apostles  Peter  and  Paul. Peter,  whose original name was  Simon  was a fisherman, the  son of John,  also a fisherman. His brother  Andrew  introduced Peter to Jesus. And they both became his followers and members of the chosen Twelve Apostles. All the four Gospels tell us more about Peter than any of the other apostles.This is because  he was their leader  and the  leader of the whole Church after the risen Jesus ascended to Heaven.

The most important Scripture story about Peter is found in the  Gospel of Matthew. It tells us about the day that Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter (Cephas, the Rock) and made him the  leader of the Church. On that day Jesus said to him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church. I will give to you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt. 16:18-19).

In the time of Jesus, to give someone the  “keys to the kingdom” means that he was  to be in charge of the kingdom  and its laws. Jesus did not give this special mission just to Peter alone. He also gave it to every person who would take Peter’s place as the  Pope  or leader of the holy Catholic Church.

After Jesus ascended into Heaven, Peter went to preach the Good News of salvation in various places. He  ended up preaching in the city of Rome where he lived for the last 25 years of his life.

He made Rome the center of the Church  and became its  first bishop. Since then the man who becomes  Bishop of Rome is also the  Leader  or  Pope of the whole Church just as Peter was.

Like most of us,  Peter’s faith grew through several stages. First, there was the  Call  – the initial stage. Peter one day met Jesus. He heard the call. According to Matthew’s Gospel: “As he [Jesus] was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother, Andrew… And he called to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ They left their net at once and followed him.” (Matthew 4: 19-20)

In the Gospel of Luke: After the miraculous catch of fish, “When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ . . .  But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed  him.” (Luke 5: 8-11)

The next stage is the  Deepening of Peter’s faith. Peter’s faith like ours grew with much stumbling and faltering. But there were certain moments that manifested the development of his faith. For example, Peter’s profession of faith at Caesarea Philippi  when Jesus asked, “‘Who do you say I am?’  Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’  he said,  ‘the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16: 13-17)

In the Gospel of John, after the discourse on the “Bread of Life,” when people rejecting Jesus walked away, “... Jesus said to his Twelve Apostles, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’  Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’”  (John 6: 67-69)

The  faith and commitment of Peter  led him to share in Christ’s Passion – death – and resurrection. Peter not only shared in the life and mission of his commitment, he  also suffered his fate. He resisted the cross and could not at first understand the teaching of the suffering Messiah. Yet his commitment to Jesus led him in the end to the cross. The Acts of the Apostles pictures how the cross belonged to his life’s work.

From tradition we learn that he ended up on the cross like the Lord. He exposed himself to the cross because it was  impossible for him to keep silence  over what he had seen and heard of the Lord. Yes he even  rejoiced  that he was allowed to suffer insults for the sake of Jesus. And he endured everything, like his fellow Apostle Paul, in Jesus who was the source of his strength.

Peter, the first Pope, stands before us as  one who has taken on the risk of faith. He realized this risk in his own life through failure and constant renewal. For him,  faith was never a definite possession, but  something that always grows and deepens.

Peter thus stand before us as one who, precisely in his humanity in which God’s power reaches perfection, is given the mission to strengthen us in our faith. Like St. Peter,  Paul  also had a different name before becoming a follower of Jesus. His name was  Saul  and at first he was an enemy of followers of Jesus. He used to arrest them and throw them into prison!

Then one day, while he was on his way to the town of Damascus to arrest the Christians, he was struck down from his horse by a bright light that filled the sky and blinded Saul’s eyes. The Risen Jesus called to him,

“Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting me?” Saul asked,  “Who are you, Sir?” And the Lord answered,  “I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting.”

This taught Saul that  by hurting Christians he was hurting Jesus himself. He was converted and received the wonderful gift of faith. Just as Jesus had chosen the Twelve Apostles to be his helpers, so now  from heaven he chose Saul  to be a helper and Apostle, too. Paul, as he was called after receiving Baptism, met with Peter to decide what he could do for Christ. He was made a bishop  and spent his whole life preaching the Good News about Jesus  to the Gentiles.

Who are the Gentiles?  Gentiles are persons  who are not Jewish. At first, most of the Apostles thought that only Jewish people could become Christians. Paul reminded them that Jesus died on the cross  to take away the sins of all people,  not just the Jews. The other Apostles agreed that this was true and made Paul the  Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul is also  famous for writing many Epistles or Letters which are found in the New Testament of the Bible. These letters are  God’s Word to us  and are  full of good advice for living the Christian life.

Like Peter, Paul spent the last years of his life in the great city of Rome. He had been arrested in the Holy Land and was brought to Rome for trial because he was a Roman citizen. Together with Peter, he was martyred for being an Apostle of Christ. Peter  died by being  crucified upside down. Paul  was killed  with a sword. Both of these great men of God share  the same Feast day of  June 29. We have them as the  special helpers and protectors of the Roman Catholic Church.