OXYGEN

29 Jun – Solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul, Apostles

Peter (c.1–64) was a professional fisherman. He was the brother of St. Andrew the Apostle, the man who led him to Christ. Given the name Simon, he was renamed “Peter” (rock) by Jesus to indicate that Peter would be the rock-like foundation on which the Church would be built. He later became a bishop and was the first pope. He was also a miracle worker.

Paul (c.3–c.65) was a Jewish Talmudic student and a Pharisee. He was a tent-maker by trade. Saul the Jew hated and persecuted the Christians as heretical, even assisting at the stoning of St. Stephen the Martyr. On his way to Damascus, Syria, to arrest another group of faithful, he was knocked to the ground, struck blind by a heavenly light, and given the message that in persecuting him, causing his conversion to Christianity.

He was baptized, changed his name to Paul to reflect his new persona, and began travelling, preaching, and teaching. His letters to the churches he help found form a large percentage of the New Testament. He knew and worked with many of the earliest saints and Fathers of the Church. He died a martyr for the faith.

- Patron Saint Index
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Acts of the Apostles 12:1-11

King Herod started persecuting certain members of the Church. He beheaded James the brother of John, and when he saw that this pleased the Jews he decided to arrest Peter as well. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread, and he put Peter in prison, assigning four squads of four soldiers each to guard him in turns. Herod meant to try Peter in public after the end of Passover week. All the time Peter was under guard the Church prayed to God for him unremittingly.

On the night before Herod was to try him, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, fastened with double chains, while guards kept watch at the main entrance to the prison. Then suddenly the angel of the Lord stood there, and the cell was filled with light. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him. ‘Get up!’ he said ‘Hurry!’ – and the chains fell from his hands. The angel then said, ‘Put on your belt and sandals.’ After he had done this, the angel next said, ‘Wrap your cloak round you and follow me.’ Peter followed him, but had no idea that what the angel did was happening in reality; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed through two guard posts one after the other, and reached the iron gate leading to the city. This opened of its own accord; they went through it and had walked the whole length of one street when suddenly the angel left him. It was only then that Peter came to himself. ‘Now I know it is all true,’ he said. ‘The Lord really did send his angel and has saved me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were so certain would happened to me.’
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2 Timothy 4:6-8.17-18

My life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his Appearing.

The Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear; and so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Matthew 16:13-19

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’
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I have kept the faith.

In the past few months, I have been going through a difficult period in my faith in the Church. Many times, I doubted the authority of the Church. I had no doubt that the Holy Spirit was with the Church and in the Church, because I believe that the Church would not have survived as long as it has if God has not been with it. But what I doubted was whether the Church today is what Jesus intended it to be. I found myself constantly asking questions like: Could the Church have developed differently, better from the way it did?

I am sure that I am not the first person, nor will I be the last person, to ask questions like this. From today’s second reading, in St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, we get an inkling that Paul must have had difficulties as a Christian, perhaps not the kind of difficulties that you and I face, but difficulties nonetheless. The important thing to take home from his letter is how he responded to these difficulties –he fought the good fight to the end; he ran the race to the finish; he kept the faith.

If there is one thing we can be sure of, it is Jesus’ promise to Peter as rock of the Church – that His Spirit will be with us always, and that the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. The Church is holy; it is divine, because God is present in it.

I still have doubts about it, but they don’t matter so much anymore. What matters is that the Church as we have it today, is the way that the Church developed, and since it is God who made it, it must have been the best way to do it.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Daniel Tay)
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Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to accept the Church for what it is, as You have made it, and help us help the Church to do all that it is supposed to do. Amen.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for the Church.

Upcoming Readings:
Tue, 30 Jun – Genesis 19:15-29; Matthew 8:23-27; Memorial for the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome
Wed, 01 Jul – Genesis 21:5.8-20; Matthew 8:28-34
Thu, 02 Jul – Genesis 22:1-19; Matthew 9:1-8
Fri, 03 Jul – Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29; Feast of St Thomas, Apostle
Sat, 04 Jul – Genesis 27:1-5.15-29; Matthew 9:14-17; Memorial for St Elizabeth of Portugal
Sun, 05 Jul – Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6; Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time