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| St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, November 2004 |
"But Who Do You Say That I Am?"
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
Study
While Peter and Paul probably did not die on the same day, their deaths
came to be celebrated together on June 29. St. Augustine wrote "The
passion of the most blessed Apostles Peter and Paul has consecrated this day
for us. We are not speaking of some obscure martyrs. Their voice has gone forth
into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. These martyrs had
seen what they preached. They followed the Truth, they professed the Truth, and
they died for the Truth.... "One day of suffering for the two Apostles.
But, they, two, in spirit were one; even if they had suffered on different days,
they would still be one." (St. Augustine, Sermon 295).[i]
Veneration of the
two great Apostles, Peter and Paul, has its roots in the very foundations of
the Church. They are the solid rock on which the Church is built. They are at
the origin of her faith and will forever remain her protectors and her guides.
To them Rome owes her true greatness, for it was under God's providential
guidance that they were led to make the capital of the Empire, sanctified by
their martyrdom, the center of the Christian world whence should radiate the
preaching of the Gospel.[ii]
Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome. St. Paul and St. Peter also are patron saints
of the Eternal City. Although St. Paul is the patron of our Cursillo movement,
today, let’s immerse ourselves into this chapter in Peter’s life because it is
an important key to our piety, study, and action. To me, it’s a great comfort to know that
Peter exhibits his many human weaknesses, even in the presence of Jesus.
We get a glimpse several times in Sacred Scripture of what Peter is
wearing. At the end of John’s Gospel,
Peter is lightly clad in the boat and dives into the water to get to Jesus
standing on the shore. Today, the angel
tells him to put on his belt, sandals and cloak so that Peter can follow the
angel out of prison.
Herod imprisoned Peter and intended to keep him locked up until after
Passover, the anniversary of the Jews miraculous exodus from Egyptian slavery
more than 3,000 years ago.
The “meat and potatoes” of the Passover Seder is the telling of the
Exodus story. There are two parallel
stories of the Jewish people woven into the Seder. "We were slaves to Pharaoh in
Egypt" and then "God/Yahweh took us out with a Mighty Hand." The
larger story is how "In the beginning, the ancestral Jews were idol-worshipers"
and then "God/Yahweh through Moses brought us to Him, to His
service." [iii]
Passover is all about miracles and Peter knows this very well. Is it an accident that he experiences a
miracle for his “exodus” from prison over the Passover holiday?
Is it any accident that Peter’s miracle took place at the same holiday
when the Lord instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper (which also was a
Passover Seder)? The same week when Christ was arrested and executed?
Action
Freedom remains elusive. Yet on
this Passover, Peter got his freedom just like the Jews got their freedom from
Egypt. The stories of faith and freedom go together. The stories of faith and freedom become a
part of our inner reality.
What chains you up? What binds
you? How can your faith free you from
your chains? God is with us on our journey no matter if we are chained up or on
the run.
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