The Holy, Glorious, All-Praiseworthy and Chief Apostles Peter and Paul
Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
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2 Corinthians 11:21-12:9; Matthew 16:13-19
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
“But who do you say that I am?” With these words Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ invites the apostles, his closest friends and those called to share in His ministry, to reveal their true belief. Simon Peter boldly replies naming Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, the one so longed for. Yet, not six verses later in the text just after today’s Gospel reading Peter refuses to allow Christ to go to Jerusalem so as to suffer His Passion. In the most stinging rebuke in the entire Gospel, Jesus replies to Peter “Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men.” Despite his weakness, his doubt, and his thrice betrayal of Christ, Peter with Paul, the great persecutor of the Church, became the chief apostles. We are called to be like them.
But first, who do we say Jesus of Nazareth is? There is only one answer and upon it hangs the entirety of our Catholic Christian faith. Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. He is fully God and fully man, the second person of the Most Holy and Glorious Trinity, who became incarnate of the Theotokos for our salvation. This is the most radical fact ever to be revealed in all of history. This is the faith which the Holy Glorious Apostles Peter and Paul, despite their own human weakness, doubts, and frailty, proclaimed to the whole world along with the other apostles after Pentecost. To share in this faith is to see the world as it truly is and to desire the salvation of all in Christ’s name. To share in this faith is to be an apostle and to courageously proclaim this faith to a doubting world: to our friends, our families, our colleagues, our fellow students, our professors, our teachers, our civic leaders, for this faith is a transformative faith. Through it, we are changed. Through it, we gain life. Through it, we encounter joy, hope, peace, mercy, and great love. Our world is in great need of these gifts and we, like the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, must be willing against all odds to act and proclaim this faith as if the entirety of our lives and those of all the world depended on it -because it does!