These two apostles, both martyred in Rome according to early tradition, have been honoured from earliest days. Peter, a Galilean, was a married fisherman, chosen by Jesus to be his disciple. After Simon confessed that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter (Petros) and told him that it was on this rock (petra) that he would build his Church. After the Ascension, Acts records that Peter was indeed the “chief of the Apostles” and, from the middle of the 3rd century onward, documents show that the Bishops of Rome were recognized as the successors of Peter.

Paul was born in Tarsus, a Roman citizen raised and educated as a Pharisee. His experience of the risen Christ resulted in his conversion from a zealous persecutor of Christians to an Apostle. After about three years in seclusion, he went to Jerusalem and, through the intervention of Barnabas, came to be trusted and accepted in the Christian community. In the Acts of the Apostles his friend Luke describes Paul’s missionary journeys between the years 45 and 57, his return to Jerusalem, his subsequent arrest and his appeal to Caesar (his right as a Roman citizen). Here history ends but tradition tells us that Paul was martyred for the faith about the year 66.

Paul called himself the “Apostle of the Gentiles” and it was he, trained in Jewish theology by the famous Rabbi Gamaliel, who was able to interpret Christianity in the light of Judaism and to explain the gospel he had received in terms that appealed to the minds and hearts of the Gentile world. His own writings show the extent of his zeal and his concern for those who were touched by his teaching, and his numerous friends are witness to the uncompromising and faithful love he bore them.©2011 Living with Christ, Novalis - Bayard Press Canada Inc., http://www.livingwithchrist.ca/. Reprinted with permission.