/Marta Sniezko/
They had moods, too – like you and me
In the month of June, we have many feast days, one of which is of two very great saints: St Peter and St Paul. Most likely, a fact we all know about St Peter is that he was the first pope, and that St Paul fell off a horse. We know that they were great and important leaders in faith and therefore we venerate them both much now. But is there something more that we can see from Holy Scripture that can show us who these famous men were? Was there a human, everyday side of them that maybe we can all relate too?
We were all called to holiness. It’s our ultimate goal of this earthly life. Becoming a saint is attainable for each one of us. And if we look at both holy men, who journeyed through life trying to reach this same goal, we will see that they were completely human with human nature just like us. They laughed, they cried, they stumbled. They were as human as humans can get.
St Peter, for example, was a simple fisherman. Not much out of the ordinary those days, with probably no formal education, trying to lead a regular life by sustaining his family through his trade of fishing. Once Jesus called him and put him as the head of His Church, St Peter gave his all, even though he may have stumbled at times, he persevered in his faith. St Paul, on the other hand, was a very highly educated and elite citizen of his time. His story of persecuting Christians, because he was a fervent Jew, shows that he believed in certain values he was taught. Once God opened his eyes, and threw him off the horse, he completely dedicated his life to Christ using his life as an example of God’s Great Mercy. They both went through life, the same hard and trying life that we all must go through. But life is full of joys and sorrows, ups and downs, good days and bad days. We can very much see this in the Scriptures that show us different sides of these strivers for sanctity.
St Paul is very well known for his joyful phrases when he had times, he could not contain his happiness because of God, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) Peter also had his days when he was enthusiastic about faith. “Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’” (Matthew 17:4) I know I can relate to this, when everything just seems to be going very well, and everyone around me is in a good state of mind. Then I am all about keeping the current mood and doing anything to keep it that way. But like St Peter was brought back to reality by God Himself, so I must remember too, that life is more than just those good times. “Life is a bowl of cherries” a good friend once told me. “You have the sweet cherry flesh, and then there are the pits.” So true! You can’t have life with just all the sweets and none of the hard pits. But even when we hit a “pit”, I should still thank God for that “pit” in my life.
The pits; the times when we feel low, sorry, and disgusted with ourselves. St Peter went through that too! “He fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’” (Luke 5:8) St Paul also had his hard days when he writes that “there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me”.(2 Corinthians 12:7) Even though he doesn’t exactly say what that thorn was, I believe we can relate and realize we are not the only ones with thorns in our sides in this life. But we must stay strong, and keep going since, as St Paul says, God gives us the strength to carry on. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Just like us, they had their mood swings, their ups and downs. When St Peter was courageous and “high” on faith, he would give up everything for Christ: “Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.’” (Matthew 26:35) I’m sure we can relate to a day in our life when we were on this same “high” of faith, where we believe that nothing will stop us. Then, the first test comes, and we fall straight on our face. Do we then give up? Do we go and despair? No. St Peter shows us that he got up and came back to Jesus. Yes, he failed horribly. He denied Christ. Not once! Three times! I’m sure we can say that we have failed Christ on more than several occasions as well. But that is not the end. St Paul says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
There is where our hope lies. And that’s what these two great and holy men show us. We were not born saints, and neither were any of the ones who already are saints. We were all born sinners. But Christ died for Peter, for Paul, for you, and for me even when we were all still sinners, to show us His Love and give us a reason to strive to become His saints. What better way to repay God for all the Love He has shown us than by becoming holy? Becoming holy in the everyday things we go through, just doing them the best way we can with God.
Sts. Peter and Paul, pray for us!
