Post #6084

Today's Feast is one of the greatest feasts celebrated by the Holy Catholic Church, because, as the Liturgy of the day teaches, "God consecrated this day with the Martyrdom of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul". St. Peter is the Vicar of Christ, the first Pope, the one to whom the Lord said "you are Peter and on this rock I will build My Church". Born in Bethsaida, by the lake of Gennesareth, Simon, son of Jonah, was united from the beginning of his public life to Jesus, who gave him the name "Kefas", that is, "stone". The enthusiasm with which he followed the Lord and the clarity with which he saw and confessed the Divinity of his Master, earned him an exceptional place among the Twelve; in spite of his denial, on the night of the Passion of Christ, Our Lord confirmed him in the Headship of the Church, after the Resurrection, by the same lake of Gennesareth, with these words: "Feed My sheep". Miraculously saved from the prison in which Herod had imprisoned Him, with the purpose of executing Him on the day of the Passover, as had happened to the Master, "He went to another place", that is, to Rome, which for Him will be the Eternal City and the principal See of the Popes. From there he comforted the Church with his doctrinal infallibility, enlightened her with his word and made her fruitful with his blood, dying for Christ, together with St. Paul, in the persecution of Nero, in the year 67, as the Lord had prophesied to him: "When you were young, you girded yourself and went where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you would not". Today, then, is the right day to renew our Faith in the Dogmas and Teachings of the Church founded on St. Peter, and to repeat with him this profession "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God; You alone have the words of Eternal Life". Our strength, our greatness, our security lie in our firm adherence to the Catholic Faith in its Integrity.