Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Keeping the faith
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the Lord.
Broken-hearted, Jesus’ chosen leader of his church stands beside the fishing boat. Not yet called a saint, Peter looked into Jesus’ eyes at dawn after he told three different groups of snarling Jews, “I never knew the man!” He has not forgiven himself. He cannot. And Jesus? Will he forgive him? Why would he? Seventy times seven, sure, but not for Peter. Peter has done the unthinkable.
In the Omar Sharif version, Saint-Peter-not-yet-a-saint aims to fish all night alone, perhaps even to jump overboard, who knows? His friends wonder, though, and insist on going with him. “We will fish too,” they say.
Then as the story goes, they catch nothing, and once again a stranger on shore asks them to try the other side of the boat, and the fish jump into their nets. It’s Jesus, and Peter jumps overboard, not to die, but to fall at the feet of his savior. Eating fish grilled for breakfast Jesus asks, “Peter, do you love me?” And Peter knows that he’s forgiven.
Herod had Peter arrested and put into prison under a heavy guard. Prayer by the church was fervently being made on his behalf. Then in the night the angel of the Lord stood beside him and a light shone in the cell. The chains fell from his wrist. “Put on your cloak and sandals and follow me.” The prison’s iron gate fell open, and Peter followed the angel outside. Suddenly the angel left him, rescued from the hand of Herod and the Jews.
Then there’s Paul, who denied Jesus far more often than Peter. There’s Saul (Paul), who hated the apostles and was disgusted by them. Saul, who would have killed them personally with daggers and swords if he couldn’t order it done by others. But deep in the desert, on a hot day near Damascus, Jesus interrupted Saul’s righteous crusade. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
And suddenly Saul was blind. Not for long, just long enough for his eyes to become refocused on Jesus his savior instead of Jesus his enemy.
O taste, and see how the Lord is good, and blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Not that their personalities changed. Peter had probably been headstrong since birth. Thinking quickly but never for very long, he plunged fast and furious into … things. Jesus subtly turned Peter’s energy toward building the kingdom of God.
Saul’s strength of will must have been evident to his parents and then his teacher Gamaliel and then to the Sanhedrin. He took every kind of risk. He out-thought and out-talked his opponents, and he never gave up. But Jesus caught him on the horse and knocked him off. Saul was undone, but Jesus loved him and used every gift God had given Saul for … what? To build the kingdom.
I have competed well. I have finished the race and I have kept the faith. The crown of righteousness awaits me. The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
It is a solemn occasion when we honor Peter and Paul and seek to follow in their footsteps. God longs to use every gift we have to build the kingdom of God. We have our own awful, petty denials, and he forgives them. We are blinded, so we can see. Clearly now, the rain is gone.
Who do you say that I am? “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said in reply, “Blessed are you, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”
(Acts 12, Psalm 34, 2 Timothy 4, Matthew 16)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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