Saint Andrew Russian Greek Catholic Church

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There is a spiritual link between this feast and that of Pentecost, for the witness of the Apostles is the immediate fruit of the descent of the Holy Spirit on them.  Paul was not with the eleven at the time of Pentecost, but Ananias conferred the Holy Spirit on him by the laying-on of hands, immediately after his conversion [Acts 9.17].

The divinely-blessed Peter was from Bethsaida of Galilee.  He was the son of Jonas and the brother of Andrew the First-Called.  He was a fisherman by trade, unlearned and poor, and was called Simon; later, he was renamed Peter by the Lord Jesus Christ [John 1.42].  On being raised by the Lord to the dignity of an Apostle and  becoming inseparable from him as his zealous disciple, Peter followed Jesus from the beginning of his preaching of salvation up until his very Passion, when, in the court of Caiaphas the high priest, Peter denied him thrice because of his fear of the Jews and of the danger at hand. But after many bitter tears, he received complete forgiveness of his transgression. After the Resurrection of Christ and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Peter preached in Judea, Antioch, and certain parts of Asia, and finally came to Rome, where he was crucified upside down by Nero, and thus he ascended to the eternal habitation about the year 66 or 68.  He left two general Epistles to the Church of Christ.

Paul, the chosen vessel of Christ, the glory of the Church, the Apostle of the Nations and teacher of the whole world, was a Jew by race, of the tribe of Benjamin, having Tarsus as his homeland. He was a Roman citizen, fluent in Greek, an expert in knowledge of the Law of Moses, a Pharisee, born of a Pharisee, and a disciple of Gamaliel, a notable teacher of the Law in Jerusalem. For this reason, Paul was a most fervent zealot for the traditions of the Jews and a great persecutor of the Church of Christ. As he was approaching Damascus, about midway there, suddenly shone upon him a light from Heaven. Falling on the earth, Saul – later Paul - heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  He was led by the hand into the city and to Ananias, who instructed him and baptized him.  Henceforth, Paul spoke with boldness and great zeal, proclaiming that “Christ is the Son of God" [Acts 9.1- 21].  He undertook several missionary journeys and suffered much at the hands of unbelievers. His fourteen Epistles make manifest the loftiness of his thoughts, the abundance of the revelations made to him, the wisdom given to him from God, wherewith Paul brought together in a wondrous manner the Old with the New Testaments.  Having completed the work of his ministry, he likewise ended his life in martyrdom, being beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero. 

The texts which we read on this feast show how the ministries of Peter and Paul are both necessary and complementary.  The Gospel contains Peter’s profession at Caesarea Philippi: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” and Jesus’ response, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this so you, but my Father who is in heaven…..”   Jesus recognizes and sanctions the act of faith which Peter formulated by bestowing on him high spiritual power. The Epistle [2 Corinthians enumerates the claims that Paul, whose call to the apostolate was direct from Christ, has to be considered as equal, or perhaps superior, in authority to those ministers of the Gospel who were already appointed and recognized:  “Are they ministers of Christ? ….. I am more,” basing his affirmation partly upon the sufferings he has endured and partly on the graces and revelations granted to him.

To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever any one dares to boast of — I am speaking as a fool —I  also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I.  Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.  Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one —I  am talking like a madman — with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for ever, knows that I do not lie. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped his hands.

I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise --whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows — and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. Though if I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.