Acts 12:1-11 / 2 Tim 4:6-8, 17-18 / Matthew 16:13-19
When we read about the life stories of great people like Beethoven and Thomas Edison, we will see something in common.
And that is when they were young, they were written off as slow, stupid and hopeless.
But yet they emerged as prominent figures in history who went against the odds of life.
We know the background and the stories of St. Peter and St. Paul.
St. Peter was brash and impulsive. And of course there was his triple denial of Christ.
St. Paul persecuted Christians until he took that road to Damascus.
By our logical reasoning, both would be written off.
But how could they do such grievous deeds and yet become great saints in the Church?
Yet,
that is the mystery of the grace of God. And along with that mystery,
we can see that no one is hopeless or unworthy for salvation.
By
God's grace, St. Peter repented. By God's grace, he was saved from
prison and he went on to lead the Church, as we heard in the 1st
reading.
By God's grace, St. Paul was converted. And by
God's grace, he spread the faith to the Gentiles and in the end he
willingly gave up his life for Christ.
By God's grace
too, we know we are forgiven and saved. By God's grace too, we know that
the sinner in us can be turned into a saint.
By God's
grace too, we know that we can be like St. Peter and St. Paul, and we
too will bear witness to Christ and pour out our lives to serve the Lord
and His Church.