As I have written on several occasions, names in the Scripture are important. Last week we heard about the naming of John by his father and mother, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Later in the week, we read about the change of Sarai’s name to Sarah and, though not explicit, the change of Abram to Abraham.
Today we celebrate the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. Both of them also received new names from God. Peter was known as Simon before he met Jesus. Paul’s Hebrew name was Saul. However, he was also a Roman citizen. His name in Latin was Paul or “Paulus.”
I suspect that we are all familiar with the fact that Peter or Cephas means “rock.” Peter became the rock on which Jesus formed his Church. The name Saul means “asked for,” “prayed for,” or borrowed and usually indicates that his mother saw him as an answer to her prayers.
Last week, we heard that God changed the name of Abram to Abraham. While the name Abram means “Father of a nation,” the name Abraham means “Father of many nations.” Paul’s writings indicate that he had great respect for Abraham as the patriarch of Judaism. Through his own preaching and writing, St. Paul certainly contributes to the “descendants” of Abraham by including the Gentile nations in the Body of Christ, the Church. Abraham represents a key moment in our salvation history. St. Matthew illuminates this fact by tracing Jesus’ ancestry back to Abraham in the opening chapter of his Gospel.
St. Peter and St. Paul represent twin pillars which support the Church. They are celebrated together to accentuate the fact that through their lives, the Jewish people and Gentiles were joined together in the Church, united by our common faith in the Lord Jesus. In many Christian countries, today’s solemnity is also a civil holiday. So great is their contribution to our Christian history that their feast is kept as a solemnity.
Of course, the CUSAN vocation is also intimately linked with St. Paul who was the great letter writer of the Christian Scriptures. It is from his writings that we also find the foundation of our apostolate for we endeavor with him to “rejoice” in affliction as we unite ourselves to the crucified Savior.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator