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.