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Thought for the Day – 6 July – St Peter and St Paul

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 6 July – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971) – Octave Day of Saints Peter and Paul

St Peter, Prince of the Apostles
St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles

“It is good to admire the fidelity of St Peter and the designs of Divine Providence in making him the visible Head of the Church but, it is far better, to follow his example.
His love for Jesus, led him to leave his family and his fisherman’s trade, in order to follow Our Lord.
It led him to undertake long voyages, to endure imprisonment and to face martyrdom.
What can we do for the love of Jesus?
Remember that, if love is to be sincere, it must be generous and effective.

Secondly let us meditate on and imitate, the ardent and fearless faith of St Peter.
He was not afraid to preach the teaching of Christ before the Sanhedrin.
He was not afraid of Herod, who cast him into prison.

He was not afraid of the Roman Emperor, who caused him to be crucified.
Our faith should be steadfast and lively, like his!

Finally, let us imitate Peter in his repentance.
Although he loved Jesus very much and had such great faith in Him, in a moment of weakness and of imprudence, he denied Him three times.
All his life, however, be wept bitterly for this sin.
Whenever he heard a cock crowing, it was as if an arrow had pierced his heart.
He was not satisfied, until he was hanging upon the cross like his Divine Master and could prove his love for Jesus by a Martyr’s death.”

St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles

We can learn many other virtues from St Paul, besides his zealous love for God and for his fellowmen.
We can also learn from him, the virtues of humility and of apostolic fervour.
The Apostle of the Gentiles reached such heights of sanctity, as to feel himself transformed into Christ Himself and to deserve to be taken up into the third Heaven, where he enjoyed a foretaste of eternal happiness.
Nevertheless, he considered himself unworthy to be called an Apostle and he realised, that all his gifts came to him from God.
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to think anything as from ourselves but our sufficiency, is from God” (2 Cor 3:5).
Whenever we succeed in any project, we should think on the same lines because, it is only when we are humble and depend on the grace of God, that the success of our actions will redound to the glory of our Creator.
If the cancer of ambition or of self-love, should corrupt our purity of intention, our work would not be blessed by God and would not make us worthy of everlasting life.
Let us repeat often: “All for You, with You and in You, my God.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/29/thought-for-the-day-29-june-st-peter-prince-of-the-apostles-st-paul-the-apostle-to-the-gentiles/

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Posted in "Follow Me", FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on the CHURCH, St PAUL!, St PETER!, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Thought for the Day – 29 June – St Peter, Prince of the Apostles, St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 29 June – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

St Peter, Prince of the Apostles
St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles

“Jesus was walking one day along the shoe of the Sea of Galilee, when He saw two fishermen casting their nets into the water.
He approached them and said: “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Mk 1:17).
These two fishermen were brothers named, Simon and Andrew.
The divine Master won their hearts immediately, so that they left their boat and their nets and followed Jesus.
Simon was later called Peter and became the leader of the Apostles.

Peter’s generosity and great love for Jesus are evident in the pages of the Gospel.
When Our Lord foretold the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, many of His disciples were scandalised and left Him.
“Do you also wish to go away?”   Jesus asked His Apostles.
St Peter answered Him without delay.   “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of everlasting life and we have come to believe and to know, that Thou are the Christ, the Son of God” (Jn 6:69).
On another occasion, Jesus asked His disciples – “Who do men say the Son of Man is?”   The Apostles hesitated and began to suggest the names of various Prophets.
But St Peter was inspired to make the reply: “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Then Our Lord appointed him Head of the Church.
“Blessed are thou, Simon Bar-Jona … thou are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell, shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven” (Mt 16:15-19).
By these words there was instituted the loftiest and most ancient of the dynasties, the Papacy.
The successor of St Peter will rule the Church to the end of time and no power, neither persecution nor heresy, neither human tyranny nor false civilisation, will ever succeed in destroying this citadel of truth and goodness!”

St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles

“St Paul was by nature, fiery and zealous.
Once he discovered the truth, he was ready to die for it.
Originally he was convinced that Judaism contained the whole truth and, for this reason he hated the Christians, whom he regarded as a sect which had corrupted the sacred Hebrew tradition.
The deacon Stephen was the first victim of his persecuting zeal.
As he was being stoned and beaten to death this saintly young man prayed for his persecutors.
It may be that in this moment his eyes, shining with faith and love, encountered those of the man who hated him.
Soon afterwards, Saul (this was Paul’s real name), left Jerusalem for Damascus, carrying letters investing him with new powers for the persecution of the infant Church.
On the way, this headstrong but sincere enemy of Christianity was suddenly dazzled by a light from Heaven.
He fell to the ground and heard a mysterious voice saying:  “Saul, Saul, why do thou persecute me?”
Terrified he answered:  “Who are thou, Lord?”
“I am Jesus,” the voice said, “whom thou are persecuting” (Acts 9:1-15).
From that day, Saul was changed completely.
Under the influence of divine grace, he became the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Before he set out on his missionary journeys, Paul wet apart into the desert of Arabia (Cf Gal 1:17), where, he remained sometime in prayer and recollection.
Then he went to Jerusalem to pay homage to the Prince of the Apostles, St Peter (Gal 1:18).
After this, he began his apostolic travels, in the course of which, he encountered all kinds of hardships and dangers.
The Jews frequently hunted him, in order to put him to death.
He was often cruelly scourged and flung into prison and, several times, he was shipwrecked and had miraculous escapes from death (CF 2 Cor 11:23-27).
He bore everything joyfully however, in order to prove his liove for Jesus Christ.
Charity was always his main incentive.   “The love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor 5:14).
Charity, he said himself, “Believes all things, hopes all things,edues all things” (Cf 1 Cor 13:4-13).
His charity was so great, that he could truthfully say:  “Who is weak and I am not weak?   Who is made to stumble and I am not inflamed?” (2 Cor 11:29).

St Paul could make this claim because his heart had become identified with the Heart of Jesus.
Therefore, he could say:  “It is now no longer I that live but Christ lives in me,” (Gal 2:20) and:  “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” (Phil 1:21) and:  “I am hard pressed from both sides, desiring to depart and to be with Christ, a lot by far the better;  yet, to stay on in the flesh is necessary, for your sake” (Phil 1:23-24).

Let us meditate on this ardent love of God.
Let us cast aside our coldness and indifference and ask St Paul, to set us on fire with divine charity.”  Amen

Antonio Cardinal Bacci