Posted on 06/28/2014 6:08:47 PM PDT by Salvation
Daily Marriage Tip for June 29, 2014"
But who do you say that I am? (Mt 16:15) Jesus question to Peter is also directed at us. Faith in Jesus, the Son of the living God, is at the heart of discipleship. Pray together for that faith today.
June 29, 2014
Click here for USCCB readings
Opening Prayer
First Reading: Acts 12:1-11
Psalm: 34:2-9
Second Reading:
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 Gospel Reading: Matthew 16:13-19
QUESTIONS:
Catechism of the Catholic Church: §§ 440, 424, 442, 153, 881, 552, 869
The whole company of saints bears witness to the unfailing truth that without real effort no one wins the crown. --St. Thomas Becket
Who Do You Say That I Am?
Pastor’s Column
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
June 29, 2014
Jesus and his disciples have entered Caesarea Philippi, a Roman town in Galilee that was filled with pagan shrines. Jesus led the disciples there to get away from the Jewish crowds. While in the midst of casual conversation, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say I am?” The answers come quickly, none of them quite accurate. Perhaps the disciples were laughing. Then the conversation lags for a moment as Jesus looks directly at the twelve: "And who do YOU say that I am?”
Who do you say that Jesus is? Most of us, if asked this question, would reply “Jesus is the Lord” or “The Son of God.” But is he really? One way that we can tell if Jesus is the Lord of our lives is by how we speak. Try listening to yourself for a week. Do I tend to speak ill of others? If that person could overhear me, would I have to change the subject? Do I tend to use vulgar or obscene words?
Am I a thankful person or a complainer? Do I speak one way in public and another way in private? One of the greatest spiritual weapons that we can add to our arsenal is silence. Oftentimes the best thing to say is actually nothing.
One of my good friends, who is a nun, once told me what she used to help her keep quiet when she was driving. She had a tendency to gripe about other drivers. So she put a sign on the car seat that she could see just before she sat down: “Be holy. Shut up!” Must I really criticize that person? And, when I complain, doesn’t it actually make things worse? Must I tell everyone what so and so did to me or that gossip I have heard? Exterior silence or keeping quiet is a great tool for growing in holiness and having a more peaceful life.
Jesus also wants to be Lord of what goes on inside our heads. Keeping interior silence means learning to quiet that interior dialogue, especially what is harmful or negative toward ourselves or others. Many saints have learned a great secret: much peace can be gained by turning off the destructive dialogue. Someone may have hurt us deeply. We keep going over their painful words and deeds in our minds, over and over. Meanwhile, the person who has hurt us has gone on their merry way and could not care less about it! Not only does this nurture un-forgiveness in our hearts, which is a sin, but it harms us both physically and spiritually.
Instead, when we become aware that we have begun thinking these destructive thoughts, we can replace them immediately with a picture of the Lord Jesus entering right into that hurtful scene, looking at us and motioning for us to be quiet, for this is how he responded toward those who hurt him. Thus, even our most painful experiences can become a secret prayer shared by Jesus.
Father Gary
Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 06.27.14 |
Readings:
Acts 12:111
Psalm 34:29
2 Timothy 4:68, 1718
Matthew 16:1319
This Sundays celebration of the great apostles Peter and Paul is a celebration of the Church. Peters deliverance from jail is compared to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Like Israel he is rescued at Passover from the hand of his enemy by an angel of the Lord after girding himself with belt, sandals, and cloak (see Ex 3:8; 12:8, 1112; 14:19).
The Church is, as Peter says, all that the Jewish people had been expecting. As he affirms in his great confession of faith in Sundays Gospel, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah that the prophets had taught Israel to hope for.
But Christ is more than what the Jewish people had been hoping for.
He is the Christ. But He is also, as Peter confesses, the Son of the living God. Born of the flesh of the Jewish people, he is a son of Abraham and David (see Mt 1:1; Rm 1:3). Through Him and the Church founded on the rock of Peters faith, God fulfills the promise he made to Abrahamto bless all nations in his seed (see Gen 22:18).
What Christ calls my Church, is the new Israel, the kingdom of God, the family made up of all peoplesJews and Gentileswho believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (see Gal 3:2629; 6:16). And we must make this confession our own. Jesus question, Who do you say that I am? is addressed to each of us personally.
We must confess our faith in Christ not only with our tongues, but with our lives. As Paul describes his discipleship in this weeks Epistle, we must make our lives a oblation, an offering of love for the sake of Jesus and His kingdom (see Rm 12:1).
We know, as we sing in this weeks Psalm, that the Lord has rescued us in Christ Jesus. We know that he will stand by us, giving us strength to face every eviland that He will bring us to the heavenly kingdom we anticipate in this Eucharist.
Our Super Apostles
El Greco: Sts Peter and Paul
This weekend's Solemnity of the dual "super Apostles" Sts. Peter and Paul plays such a core role in the history of Christianity that whether one be Catholic or another tradition we all should bow our heads to these giants and the Spirit of God who worked so powerfully through them both. Yet, they obviously stood on clay feet along with the rest of us. Peter's impulsive yet well intentioned expressions of faith, at times with a fragile loyalty to Jesus and Paul's entrance to Apostleship at a later time (post resurrection), along with his hatred for Christians before his conversion, make us stop and wonder why God chose them for roles of such fundamental leadership in the Christian community.
Normally, we may think of Peter who represents basically the institutional branch of Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, with Jesus' words of today's Gospel Mt. 16: 13-19: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it . . ."
And the great missionary spirit of the Church represented by St. Paul who carried the words of the Gospel to the Gentile world who speaks from his imprisonment in today's second reading from Timothy 4: 6-8, 17-18: "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith."
Yet, both Peter and Paul were missionaries and institutional leaders in their own right, their personalities make them a contrast. The bold courage of their faith, tempered through human weakness, unites them. Their martyrdom, likely in the years 64 or 67 A.D. during the persecution of the blood lust of Emperor Nero, make them both courageous witnesses that solidified the foundation of Christ's Church for all time.
What can we learn from them about ourselves? Though they seem to be larger than life in some ways, we are called to no less. Each of us has a message to share; a Gospel to carry by the faithful witness of our lives to the Lord Jesus in a way that brings others to see that the Church is a living body, the living presence of the risen Lord in our world today.
Yes, the Church is flawed not because of God (after all Jesus stated this is "my Church") but because God for some mysterious reason has entrusted all of this to weak and at times sinful human beings. Yet, the Church will prevail, not because of us, but as it may seem at times in spite of us.
So, today may be an opportunity to thank God that you have embraced the Christian faith and are truly blessed to be Catholic. Rather than finding all the flaws of the Church, which seems to be a favorite pastime for some, celebrate and give thanks for all the good that we have seen and continue to see. We all have a responsibility to live up to what we profess and as God did for Peter and Paul, he will do for us. The Spirit of our baptism and our Confirmation, that living Spirit of God who speaks to us in the events of our lives and unites us in the Holy Eucharist through Christ's Church, and who sustains the truth of the Gospel will help us in all things.
O God, who on the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul
give us the noble and holy joy of this day,
grant, we pray, that your Church
may in all things follow the teaching
of those through whom she received
the beginnings of right religion.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
(Collect of Solemnity)
Fr. Tim
Matthew | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 16 |
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13. | And Jesus came into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? | Venit autem Jesus in partes Cæsareæ Philippi : et interrogabat discipulos suos, dicens : Quem dicunt homines esse Filium hominis ? | ελθων δε ο ιησους εις τα μερη καισαρειας της φιλιππου ηρωτα τους μαθητας αυτου λεγων τινα με λεγουσιν οι ανθρωποι ειναι τον υιον του ανθρωπου |
14. | But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. | At illi dixerunt : Alii Joannem Baptistam, alii autem Eliam, alii vero Jeremiam, aut unum ex prophetis. | οι δε ειπον οι μεν ιωαννην τον βαπτιστην αλλοι δε ηλιαν ετεροι δε ιερεμιαν η ενα των προφητων |
15. | Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? | Dicit illis Jesus : Vos autem, quem me esse dicitis ? | λεγει αυτοις υμεις δε τινα με λεγετε ειναι |
16. | Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. | Respondens Simon Petrus dixit : Tu es Christus, Filius Dei vivi. | αποκριθεις δε σιμων πετρος ειπεν συ ει ο χριστος ο υιος του θεου του ζωντος |
17. | And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. | Respondens autem Jesus, dixit ei : Beatus es Simon Bar Jona : quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus, qui in cælis est. | και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτω μακαριος ει σιμων βαρ ιωνα οτι σαρξ και αιμα ουκ απεκαλυψεν σοι αλλ ο πατηρ μου ο εν τοις ουρανοις |
18. | And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. | Et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portæ inferi non prævalebunt adversus eam. | καγω δε σοι λεγω οτι συ ει πετρος και επι ταυτη τη πετρα οικοδομησω μου την εκκλησιαν και πυλαι αδου ου κατισχυσουσιν αυτης |
19. | And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. | Et tibi dabo claves regni cælorum. Et quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum et in cælis : et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in cælis. | και δωσω σοι τας κλεις της βασιλειας των ουρανων και ο εαν δησης επι της γης εσται δεδεμενον εν τοις ουρανοις και ο εαν λυσης επι της γης εσται λελυμενον εν τοις ουρανοις |
Homily at First Vespers of Saints Peter and Paul
Sunday, 29 June 2014 08:30
This is the homily that I preached in 2009 at First Vespers of Saints Peter and Paul in the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The liturgical references are to the reformed rite.
Spiritually in Rome
This evening, with the Church’s evening sacrifice of praise, we enter into the festival of the Apostles Peter and Paul and bring the Pauline Year to a close. The Vespers hymn given us by the Church would have sing: “The beauteous light of God’s eternal majesty / Streams down in golden rays to grace this holy day (Aurea luce). We find ourselves on pilgrimage to the Eternal City; spiritually we are in Rome at the tombs of Peter, the Keeper of Heaven’s Gate, and of Paul, the Teacher of the Nations. Describing Rome as the eyes of faith see her, the hymn goes on to say:
O happy Rome! who in thy martyr princes’ blood,
A twofold stream, art washed and doubly sanctified.
All earthly beauty thou alone outshinest far,
Empurpled by their outpoured life-blood’s glorious tide.
Grace Abounds All the More
The mere tourist on a Roman holiday, rushing from one attraction to another, and distracted by a wildly delicious assault of sights, sounds, smells, and tastes, misses the city’s most precious secrets: the mortal remains of Saints Peter and Paul, and the immortal holiness of streets, and stones, and earth soaked in the blood of a host of other martyrs. “But Father,” you may object, “I have been to Rome” — it is rife with sin and thievery.” Saint Paul, addressing the Romans, answers, saying: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20).
A Cascade of Graces
Mystically transported to the tombs of Saints Peter and Saint Paul and enveloped by the liturgy of the feast, we are already standing under a cascade of graces coming down from the Father of lights (Jas 1:17). Every feast in the Church’s calendar, indeed every Hour of the Divine Office of every feast, is the vehicle of a particular grace: one coloured by the saint or mystery being celebrated and divinely adapted to whatever our present needs may be.
First Antiphon
The first antiphon, taken from Mathew 16:16-17, is composed of a word pronounced by Peter, and of Jesus’ reply. Peter confesses his faith: “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.” Straightaway Our Lord confirms him in his faith: “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona.” This first antiphon framed Psalm 116 for us: the shortest psalm in the Bible. Psalm 116 has but two verses: a clarion call summoning all the nations to praise the Lord because His mercy over us is confirmed, and because His truth will abide forever.
Blessed Art Thou
If you would enter into the grace of the first antiphon and psalm, make Peter’s confession of faith your own, and then listen to Our Lord say to you, “Blessed art thou.” If your own faith is beset with doubts, and uncertain in the face of suffering, lean on the faith of Peter and of the Church. Persevere in repeating Peter’s prayer — “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.” Say it even if you feel nothing. Say it even if you think that your prayer is going nowhere. Say it even if you think no one is listening. The mercy of Christ will, at the appointed hour, break through the darkness that surrounds you, and you will hear Him say to you, as He said to Peter, “Blessed art thou.”
Second Antiphon
The second antiphon is taken from Matthew 16:18. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks, saying: “Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church” (Mt 16:18). These words, once addressed to Simon Bar-Jona have been repeated to each of his 265 successors as Bishop of Rome. This is the antiphon sung to greet the Pope every time he solemnly enters Saint Peter’s Basilica. And this is the text written in monumental letters around the base of the great dome of Saint Peter’s.
Pray for the Pope and for the Church
Today, this antiphon opens and closes Psalm 147, a hymn in praise of the Lord who so loves His Church that He blesses her children, places peace in her borders, and fills her with the wheat of the Most Holy Eucharist, the swift-running efficacy of His Word, and the very Breath of His mouth, the Holy Spirit. Both the antiphon and the psalm invite us to pray fervently and gratefully for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church. Prayer for the Pope is as old as the Church herself. We read in Acts 12:5: “But prayer was made without ceasing by the Church for him [Peter]” (Ac 12:5).
Third Antiphon
The third antiphon is addressed to Saint Paul. It is an artfully crafted composition, made up of Acts 9:15 and 1 Timothy 2:7. This illustrates, incidentally, that the Church is sovereignly free in her use of Sacred Scripture in the liturgy. Guided by the Holy Ghost, she so grasps the unity of the Bible, that she knows how to lift out first one verse and then another. She then reassembles them in such a way that they become a fitting expression of her prayer for all times.
In Acts 9:15, Our Lord appears to Ananias in a vision. When Ananias protests to Him that he wants nothing to do with this hateful Saul, Our Lord answers, “Go thy way, for this man is to me a vessel of election” (Ac 9:15). That is the first part of the antiphon. In the second part — 2 Timothy 2:7 — Paul boasts of his divinely conferred credentials: “I am appointed a preacher and an apostle, (I say the truth, I lie not,) a doctor of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”
Grace
This antiphon opens and closes a canticle that Saint Paul either composed or learned from hearing it sung in the assemblies of the Church. It is a song of praise and thanksgiving, glorifying God the Father for having chosen us in Christ, His Beloved Son, for the praise of His glorious grace. In this canticle, grace is the keyword. Grace is the graciousness of God in action, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Grace is what changed Saul into Paul, making him God’s vessel of election, and the preacher of the truth in the world. Grace is what will change us from what we are — frail, broken sinners — into the saints God wants us to be forever. Hold fast to the Our Lord’s own words to Saint Paul: “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my power is made perfect in infirmity” (2 Cor 12:9).
The Reading
It comes as no surprise that the short lesson this evening should be from Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. It is, in fact, the salutation from the very beginning of his letter: “To all that are at Rome — and, spiritually, we are there this evening – the beloved of God called to be saints. Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:7). This is a greeting that delivers what it wishes. It is the word of God uttered in the midst of the Church: no vapid sentimentality here, but rather the efficacious Word of God sent like a flaming arrow into the hearts of those who hear it.
The Responsory
The Reponsory tells us that the Apostles spoke the Word of God with confidence and boldness, bearing witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Latin text has cum fiducia, with assurance, confidence, and trust. Trust in whom? Trust in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit. “I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever” (Jn 14:16). There is no reason then to be timid and shrinking about our Catholic faith, even in an intimidating culture that mocks it, rejects the hope it offers, and would have us dilute it. Apostolic Catholic Christianity is to be lived cum fiducia, with confidence, and boldly.
Magnificat Antiphon
The Magnificat Antiphon will have us sing: “The glorious Apostles of Christ, just as they loved each other in life, so too, are they not separated in death.” Did Peter and Paul love each other? Yes. Did they always agree about everything? No. It is this that makes their fraternal love credible, even more compelling. What was this charity with which they loved each other? It is the charity that Saint Paul describes in First Corinthians: a charity that is patient, is kind, that envieth not, that dealeth not perversely, and that is not puffed up; a charity that is not ambitious, that seeketh not her own, that is not provoked to anger; a charity that beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things” (1 Cor 13:4-7).
The Collect
The Collect, in its own way, tells us quite a lot about God and about ourselves. It is proper to this evening and different from the one that we will hear at Mass and at the Hours tomorrow:
Give us, we beseech Thee, O Lord our God,
to be lifted up by the intercession of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul,
so that through them to whom Thou gavest Thy Church
the first proofs of heavenly gifts,
Thou wouldst provide us with helps for everlasting salvation.
We pray to God as a people in need of being lifted up. We are fallen and falling . . . but God is ever ready to lift us up. Today He does so by the intercession of Saints Peter and Paul. Both of them knew what it is to fall. . . and to fall in a spectacular way. Now, in the glory of heaven, they are well placed to help us rise from the sin that, again and again, knocks us down. In the beginning, God gave Saints Peter and Paul signs and demonstrations of His heavenly protection; what He did for them in the first days of the Church, He is ready to do for us in 2009, at this end of the Year of Saint Paul and beginning of the Year of the Priest.
A Lamp to Our Feet
Under Saint Peter’s watchful eye, Saint Paul is handing the torch to Saint John Mary Vianney, the Curé d’Ars. Pray that this torch be for all of us, but especially for the priests of our diocese of Tulsa, “a lamp to our feet, and a light to our paths” (Ps 118:105).
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Matthew 16:13-19 When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Introductory Prayer: Jesus, I believe in you. I believe that you came into this world to suffer and die to give me a chance at eternal salvation. I want to draw close to you in this prayer. May this time I spend with you be an expression of my love. Petition: Help me, Lord, to enter into a deeper, personal relationship with you. 1. Identity Crisis: Jesus isn´t interested in what "others" think of him. He wants to know what I think of him. The test of any relationship is how committed people are to each other. At some point a young woman will wonder, how serious is her beau? After a few weeks of class, a professor wants to know, who are the serious students here? On the eve of battle a soldier might wonder, can I count on my buddies when the bullets start flying? Likewise, Our Lord wonders about us. What does Christ mean to me? Is he just a picture on a holy card? A dimly perceived do-gooder from the past? Or does he have a real place in my life? He is, after all, the Second Person of the Trinity who came into the world in order to save us. How does that truth affect my faith? 2. Heavenly Revelation: Peter professes that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. And Jesus in turn tells him that this knowledge doesn´t come from the world. It comes from God the Father. Recognition of Jesus as the Christ involves an act of faith. Throughout history skeptics have tried to figure out Jesus, using just their reason and tools of research. But since when do we try to understand the totality of a person with reason? Learning about another person can often require personal contact, above all, listening to him or her. Do I try to listen to Jesus in prayer, in Scripture? Or do I simply try to "figure him out"? 3. Binding and Loosing: Keys were a symbol of authority. Our Lord had all authority on earth (see Matthew 28:18 and Mark 2:10). Authority implies the ability to delegate it; hence, Jesus gave Peter, as the first pope, the power to bind and loose, that is, to make disciplinary rules within the Church. A child who disobeys a licit command from its mother is committing a sin. Why? Not because Mom is God, but because Mom has authority from God. Authority, in this case papal authority, is not an imposition but rather a service. The Pope´s unique authority gives us a sure guide on moral questions. The Pope doesn´t have the power to make morality but rather to define authoritatively on issues at hand. How well do I know papal teaching? Do I make an effort to learn why he teaches as he teaches? When a difficulty arises, do I consult Church teaching? "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me" (Luke 10:16). Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me to love my faith as an expression of my personal relationship with you. Keep me from ever growing cold in my faith. Grant me a renewed appreciation for the gift of papal authority. Resolution: I will read a few paragraphs of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, for example, a few about the papacy (880-887, 895, 1559). |
June 29, 2014
Acts 12:1-11
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062914-day-mass.cfm
When you find yourself on death row, awaiting a show trial, chained up in a prison with sixteen guards, it is probably time to let go and prepare to meet your Maker. But “God’s perfect timing” might just interrupt your preparations. People often refer to “God’s perfect timing” to help us deal with the delays, failures and disappointments of life. However, in certain cases, his timing can work the opposite way, undoing what seems to be an inevitable disappointment. In this Sunday’s reading from Acts 12 for the Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul, we find St. Peter apparently about to die, until God interferes with apparent inevitability.
Peter is arrested by Herod Agrippa’s agents right before Passover. Herod has put one of the “pillar apostles,” James, to death by sword. Peter would expect to follow his fellow apostle to martyrdom quickly. Herod is on a persecution rampage to please the Jewish authorities at Jerusalem, and nip the nascent Christian movement in the bud. Herod’s violence reminds us that the Church was born in the midst of opposition and persecution. He arrests Peter at the time of Passover, a feast at which Jewish pilgrims would gather in Jerusalem. Herod’s purpose is probably two-fold: he wants to prevent a key Christian leader from preaching to the crowds at Passover and he wants to put Peter on a show trial to ingratiate himself with the opponents of Christianity and as a warning not to join the new movement.
When Peter, the Rock, is arrested, the Christian community does not launch a protest or a war, but they get down on their knees and pray. Acts describes the Church’s prayer for Peter as ektenes, “intense, zealous, instant.” They are praying hard and fast that Peter will be protected from a seemingly imminent fate. Praying in the face of such a situation would be a tough proposition. It would be easy to give up and start praying for a swift end rather than for deliverance. But the early Christians kept believing and interceding for Peter’s rescue. Their faithful determination (and their results!) can teach something about how to pray.
The Lord allowed James to die a martyr’s death and the Church could have accepted Peter’s martyrdom, but it was not in God’s timing just yet. Peter would eventually receive the martyr’s crown in Rome, but at this point in his life, God has more for him to accomplish. God is in control of the situation. He knows exactly where Peter is, what he’s doing and the odds he is facing. When the Church prays, and God responds by sending an angel to release Peter from prison, the Lord is demonstrating his mastery of the universe and the veracity of his plan. God’s plan included martyrdom for Peter, but not yet. At this moment, God wanted to save Peter so that he could keep working to build up the early Church. To me, this shows that God’s plan overrides our notions about how things ought to go. He knows what he is doing and when we entrust ourselves to him in prayer and faith, he responds in powerful ways.
Herod wanted to publicly humiliate Peter, “intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people” (Acts 12:4 RSV), just like Jesus had been publicly tried by Pilate. After the public trial, Peter would be executed. Herod tries to assure that his wishes are carried out by taking many precautions, including guarding him with four four-man squads of soldiers. But again, God has other plans. After Peter is led out of prison by an angel who seems like a vision, he gets out of Jerusalem and harm’s way. As soon as Herod finds out that Peter has escaped, he has the sixteen guards executed (Acts 12:19). Then Herod, in his own self-aggrandizing way, puts on his royal robes and sits before a crowd whom he does not dissuade from flattering him by calling him a god. Instead of silencing them, his silence consents to the divine title. He thinks himself a god! At this moment of his bogus apotheosis, the moment at which he feels himself becoming a god, the real God sends an angel to strike him down. In a forceful poetic irony, the man condemned and imprisoned is freed by an angel of deliverance, while the man crowned and praised as a god is struck down by an angel of death.
The conflict and opposite fates of Herod and Peter reveal the power of the Gospel. The Good News disrupts the order that people are accustomed to. Herod stands in defense of the status quo which keeps the powerful in power and the lowly low. He realizes the upending, world-changing quality of the gospel that proclaims a new King, a new Lord, a new Way. The old alliances and power structures could (and eventually do) bend and break under its influence. Peter is the representative, the prime minister, of the new King and proclaims his Good News, a dynamic force whose relevance and power can threaten those in authority. Change is the enemy of the status quo and Herod tries to stomp it out with force. However, God wants to bring about a serious change, and Herod’s plan backfires on himself. The Lord sends his angels to both deliver mercy and execute justice.
The darkness of some situations can prompt us to give up hope and give in to despair. But when God delivers Peter out of a hopeless situation, we can see that he really is the one in control. Jesus even tells his disciples that they might be put to death, but still “not a hair of your head will perish” (Luke 21:18). God saves Peter for bigger purposes. His work is not yet done. When we are tempted to give up, we might think about what it felt like to be snuggled up with a bunch of chains and soldiers in a dungeon, and then to look into the eyes of an angel. Maybe we too have some work left to do.
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