Build My Church
Mass during the Day
Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. Acts 12:7-9
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus 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. And 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. Matthew 16: 15-18
Piety
(Epiphany is over, the kings have set off home another way. But their arrival has triggered an appalling chain of events. Herod, then as now, thinks nothing of killing the innocent for political ends. The Christ-child is a refugee in the world he came to save. But God, who gives Himself for us all also calls us all to give an account to Him of how we have lived and loved in that world.)
Refugee by Malcolm Guite
We think of him as safe beneath the steeple,
Or cozy in a crib beside the font,
But he is with a million displaced people
On the long road of weariness and want.
For even as we sing our final carol
His family is up and on that road,
Fleeing the wrath of someone else’s quarrel,
Glancing behind and shouldering their load.
Whilst Herod rages still from his dark tower
Christ clings to Mary, fingers tightly curled,
The lambs are slaughtered by the men of power,
And death squads spread their curse across the world.
But every Herod dies, and comes alone
To stand before the Lamb upon the throne.
Study
Peter and Paul are probably the most famous disciples. We just do not know as much about the lives and writings of the others as we know about Peter and Paul.
While it is common to refer to Jesus as like us in all things BUT sin, that description does not work for Peter and Paul. They are like us in all things INCLUDING sin. They were both distracted by their careers. Peter was the reluctant leader. After Easter, he gave into temptation to fall back on his old career as a fisherman – his comfort zone – rather than bringing the word to the world.
Paul, who was not even among the original disciples, first came to our awareness as a persecutor of Christians until he was knocked off his high horse and brought to earth and the realization that he was to become a leader.
Imagine Peter and Paul on a Cursillo Weekend especially when we get to the Leaders talk. I would imagine both of them slinking into their shells. How many times have you heard people say, “I am not a leader.”
Isn’t that the point of Christianity? If Jesus can make this humble fisherman, this persecutor, a tax collector, and others into leaders, surely the Lord can do wondrous things with us, no?
When I had a couple of chances to visit Rome and St. Peter’s Basilica, the mere humanity of Peter comes out. You will encounter mosaics of Peter as a fisherman. Elsewhere, you might see the black chains that bound him in prison. You can tour the ancient Roman necropolis (cemetery) where eventually, the Church would find most of the bones of a seventy-year-old man. Most because in the grave thought to belong to Peter, there were no bones from his feet. (However, legend has it that Peter was crucified upside down and his feet were cut off to remove him from his cross.
Action
A day like today gives us reason to pause and think about the legacy handed down from Peter and Paul.
Peter was an eyewitness to almost everything that happened to Jesus as an adult. But he was not just a spectator. He was there for the Sermon on the Mount. He saw Jesus. He heard Jesus. He listed and concentrated on the message and the experience.
Peter was there for the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. He saw Jesus. He heard Jesus. He listed and concentrated on the message and the experience.
Peter was there at the Transfiguration, the Last Supper and in the Garden of Gethsemane. He saw Jesus. He heard Jesus. He listed and concentrated on the message and the experience. He was there around the fire on the dark night of Good Friday, denying that he had been with Jesus.
Peter was there at the Last Breakfast. But he arrived by swimming to shore from the comfort of his fishing boat. He saw Jesus as a stranger on the shore. He heard Jesus call to the men in the boat. He listed and concentrated on the message and the experience. And he was changed! After the sum total of Peter’s experiences with Jesus, he understood the message and put it into action. Feed my sheep.
Paul, however, was even more like us because he never encountered the living Christ. He did not have a personal relationship with the human Jesus. Yet despite these differences, both Peter and Paul believed that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God. They both gave us living examples to follow.
In some ways, they shared the refugee status of their Lord and Savior. They gave up everything of their former lives as a fisherman and a soldier. They marched into the unchartered territory as priests, prophets, and evangelists. They become strangers but not in a strange land. They became strangers right in their homeland.
How does your life live out the examples of Peter and Paul? Are your ready to emerge from your comfort zone into the mission of sheep feeding?
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