Saints Peter and Paul

                                     

                                       Saint Peter   (European School 18th c.)

The 29^th June is a special day when the Church celebrates the lives of two of the earliest and well known of the Christian Saints, Saints Peter and Paul.

St Peter was a fisherman by trade, plying his skills on the Sea of Galilee which  is in Israel bordering Syria, with his usual crew the brothers James and John. One morning whilst preparing to ‘shut shop’ after a particularly unproductive night during which they had caught no fish, they were spoken to by Jesus Christ, aged then about 30 years, who was unknown to them, but was watching from the shore.  Having complained that they had caught nothing all night, Peter was then told by Christ to cast his nets again. He was sceptical but reluctantly did as Christ suggested, and so many fish were caught in the nets that he had to call for help from other fisherman at the scene. This inexplicable event and incredibly large catch was recognised by Peter as the work of God, the first of many ‘miracles’ which he was to witness. Christ invited him to join Him as His disciple and become a ‘fisher of men’, which he did, as also did his colleagues James and John.  These three became the first of the twelve Apostles chosen by Christ, remaining with Him until he was crucified. During this time Peter was appointed by Christ as Head of His newly founded Church on Earth, the Catholic Church, which today numbers 1.378 billion baptized Catholics throughout the world.

 St Paul was born a Roman citizen, and as a young man with political ambition, became infamous for his ruthless single-minded persecution of Christians. This stopped after he was mysteriously struck from his horse while on the road to Damascus when he heard the voice of God Who asked him why he was persecuting Christians so cruelly. Recognising the error of his ways, Paul’s conversion to Christianity was immediate, and thereafter he spent the rest of his life preaching the reality of Christ’s resurrection from the dead and His teachings that men must follow to please God and attain eternal salvation.  St Paul’s life involved great physical and spiritual suffering, which he describes in his letter to the Corinthians, not out of any sense of vain-glory but for the enlightenment of the souls committed to his charge:-

“Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea.  In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren.  In labour and painfulness, in much watching, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness.” et al. (Ch.11  v. 24-27. St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.)

                                              Saint Paul Preaching in Athens   (Raphael)

 Both St Peter and St Paul suffered martyrdom for their faith, at the hands of both Jewish and Roman authorities who regarded Christianity as a threat to their position of power. Saint Peter was crucified and insisted that he be crucified upside-down as he was not worthy to imitate the death of his leader and master, Jesus Christ.  St Paul as a Roman citizen was protected from crucifixion, and although there is no recorded details of his death, he is  believed to have been decapitated by his captors, this being the customary manner of execution for men such as he.

In the Mass for the feast-day of St Peter and Paul, the Epistle relates the details of a particularly striking miracle involving St Peter:-

            ‘In those days, Herod the king stretched forth his hand to afflict some of the Church:  and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword; and seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take up Peter also. Now it was in the days of the azymes: and when he had apprehended him, he cast him into prison, delivering him to four files of soldiers to be kept, intending after the Pasch to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison; but prayer was made without ceasing by the Church unto God for him.  And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shined in the room; and he, striking Peter on the side, raised him up, saying: Arise quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands; and the angel said to him: Gird thyself and put on thy sandals. And he did so.  And he said to him:  Cast thy garment about thee and follow me.  And going out, he followed him: and he knew not that it was true which was done by the angel; but he thought he saw a vision.  And passing through the first and the second ward, they came to the iron gate that leadeth to the city, which of itself opened to them; and going out, they passed on through one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.  And Peter coming to himself, said: Now I know in very deed that the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.’ (Acts of the Apostles Ch. 12 vs. 1-11)

These events occurred some 2000 years ago, yet the battle between good and evil continues unabated.

Today the world faces the frightening prospect of a take-over by a powerful group of pagan elitists, who have been planning over many decades to take control of the world. Currently they have infiltrated and are attempting to  control  the major governments  of the world, politically, economically, militarily, including  all matters relating to health, education, finance, and even ‘religion’. They aim for total and absolute power over all nations under ‘one-world government’. They preach the Malthusian policy of de-populating the Earth, planning to reduce the world’s population by billions.  They do not believe in God the Creator of the Universe, and they have adopted the role of  Lucifer at the time of Creation. Lucifer failed then as the elite will surely fail now,  but we need God’s help, for this is a spiritual battle. 

The world must return to God,  acknowledging His omnipotence and obeying His commandments.  Recognition of Jesus Christ, God the Son made Man, is necessary for our eternal salvation, for He suffered a cruel and unjust death for our sins, in order that we might be saved. God loves us and wants to help us, but we must go to Him.

“Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil.  For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore, take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect.”  (St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Ch.6 vs.11-13)

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us all.