Who are the two men Jesus needed the most?

THE OUTSTANDING AMBASSADORS OF OUR FAITH

We know more about Peter than many of the other Apostles because Mark accompanied him on many of his preaching engagements.  One of Peter's great moments in life was when he made his great confession of faith, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mk. 8:29).  It was just one of the many glorious moments in Peter's life, beginning with the day he was called from his nets along the Sea of Galilee to become a fisher of men for Jesus.

The New Testament clearly shows Peter as the leader of the Apostles, chosen by Jesus to have a special relationship with Him.  With James and John he was privileged to witness the Transfiguration, the raising of a dead child to life and the agony in Gethsemane.  His mother-in-law was cured by Jesus.  He was sent with John to prepare for the last Passover before Jesus' death.  His name is first on every list of Apostles.

It was to Peter alone that Jesus said, "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 underworld 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" (Mt. 16:17b-19).

But the Gospels hide none of Peter's failures and weaknesses.  It is a great comfort for ordinary mortals to know that Peter also has his human weakness, even in the presence of Jesus.

He generously gave up all things, yet he can ask in childish self-regard, "What are we going to get for all this?" (see Mt. 19:27). He receives the full force of Christ's anger when he objects to the idea of a suffering Messiah, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do" (Mt. 16:23b).

Peter is willing to accept Jesus' doctrine of forgiveness, but suggests a limit of seven times.  He walks on the water in faith, but sinks in doubt.  He refuses to let Jesus wash his feet, then wants his whole body cleansed.  He swears at the Last Supper that he will never deny Jesus, and then swears to a servant maid that he has never known the Man.  He loyally resists the first attempt to arrest Jesus by cutting off Malchus's ear, but in the end he runs away with the others.  In the depth of his sorrow, Jesus looks on him and forgives him, and he goes out and sheds bitter tears.  Despite all His differences with Jesus the Risen Jesus told him to feed His lambs and His sheep (Jn. 21:15-17).

Peter died like Jesus on a cross around 64 AD.  I feel sure he did not feel worthy to die exactly in the same manner and so was crucified upside down.

Paul's conversion puzzled not only his fellow Jews but also the Christians he was persecuting.  One minute both parties saw him as a fierce believer and proponent of Judaism, the next minute he was an ardent follower of Jesus Christ.

Paul's central conviction was simple and absolute:  Only God can save humanity.  No human effort - even the most scrupulous observance of law - can create a human good which we can bring to God as reparation for sin and payment for grace.  To be saved from sin, from the devil and from death, humanity must open itself completely to the saving power of Jesus.

Paul never lost his love for his Jewish family, though he carried on a lifelong debate with them about the uselessness of the Law without Christ.  He reminded the Gentiles that they were grafted on the parent stock of the Jews, who were still God's chosen people, the children of the promise.

If we were to choose a confessor from among the Apostles we would probably go to Peter sooner than to any of the other Apostles.  His faults and his acceptance of Jesus' forgiveness would draw us to him.  We would probably think of him as being more sympathetic to our failures in life. 

Jesus says to us as He said, in effect, to Peter, "It is not you who have chosen Me, but I who have chosen you.  Peter, it is not human wisdom that makes it possible for you to believe, but My Father's revelation.  I, not you, build My Church."  Paul's experience of the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus was the driving force that made him one of the most zealous, dynamic and courageous ambassadors of Christ the Church has ever had.  But persecution, humiliation and weakness became his day-by-day carrying of the cross, material for further transformation in his life.  The dying Christ was in him; the living Christ was his life.

Paul died by the sword around the year AD 64.  We Catholics owe so much to these two men:  Peter as the rock of our Church, and Paul through his letters has taught us so much about our faith.

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