Ss. Peter and Paul
For many Christians, this ancient feast day has taken on a new meaning: the urgency of love, understanding in humility, and reconciliation among brothers and sisters in Christ who have become, through the exigencies of history and the sins of men, separated from each other. May the Holy Spirit be for us the fount of unity.
Saint Paul (from the King James Version):
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Saint Peter (from the Douay-Rheims):
But before all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a multitude of sins. Using hospitality one towards another, without murmuring, As every man hath received grace, ministering the same one to another: as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak, as the words of God. If any man minister, let him do it, as of the power, which God administereth: that in all things God may be honoured through Jesus Christ: to whom is glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.
posted by The Opinionated Homeschooler at 2:21 PM
5 Comments:
"May the Holy Spirit be for us the fount of unity." Amen.
I am a recent Catholic convert who loves the Church deeply, and I'm forever grateful to Sharon for being my guide in this strange and beautiful new world. Yet I'm also keenly aware that 95% of what I have learned about God, prayer, the scriptues, and holiness has come to me through my Protestant brothers and sisters.
More and more I find myself praying Paul's words from Ephesians, "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the buidling up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ."
I deeply desire for Christ to raise up Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox apostles who might lead us to a place of unity in the faith. Though I cannot see the path, it certainly seems a worthy subject for prayer.
Ss. Peter and Paul, pray for us.
Thanks Sharon for sharing this new meaning for the feast of Peter and Paul.
I agree whole-heartedly with Amy's words, and I will pray for that unity, too.
I apologize for some other comments I made on your blog, Sharon, that were critical of Protestants. As a former Protestant, I am so grateful for my background.
Thanks, Sharon.
Amen!
Sophia,
Don't worry about it. I think all of us (okay, not Amy) have been guilty of undue criticism of other Christians. I think in a way it's just further proof that we recognize each other as brothers and sisters--do we waste time and mental space being annoyed with strangers, or with family?--and it reflects the pain of separation. The pain can be especially bitter when friends and family, and our own pasts, are left on the other side of the divide.
I thought this was encouraging and relevant. From an address by Pope Benedict:
"There is still another reason that renders our joy even greater today: It is the presence in Rome, on the occasion of the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, of a special delegation sent by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I.
To the members of this delegation I reiterate with affection my welcome and heartfelt gratitude to the patriarch, for rendering even more manifest with this gesture the existing bond of fraternity between our Churches.
May Mary, Queen of the Apostles, whom we invoke with trust, obtain for Christians the gift of full unity.
With her help and following in the footsteps of St. Peter and St. Paul, may the Church that is in Rome and all the people of God offer the world a testimony of unity and courageous dedication to the Gospel of Christ."
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