The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-08-05

AND THE MANNER OF HIS
DEATH.
st. Peter, whose original name was
Simon, was the son of Jonas, and a
brother of the Apostle ST. Andrew,
writes Very Reverend F. j. Schaefer,
d, D., in Extension Magazine" The
change of name was made by Our
Lord Himself, Who wished to express
thereby the high Office which st. Peter
was to hold in His Church; for Peter
corresponds to the Aramaic word
| Cephas, which means as much as
stone or rock. He was born in the
small town of Bethsaida on Lake Gen
esareth, but afterward settled in
| Capharnaum, where he exercised a
| fisherman's trade. He was among
the first disciples that Christ gather
ed around him; and, although at first
he continued his trade for while, he
soon gave up everything and remain
ed entirely with the Master. 1t soon
became apparent that Christ had spe-
cial designs upon him, since he ap-
pears always as the first among the
| College, where the names of all the
apostles occur, St. Peters name is
always first. On various occasions he
speaks for and in the name of the
other apostles; at other times Christ
when speaking to the apostles turns
in q CnnoiQl t0 him of all
the apostles he was the first to see
the risen Christ. Hence it was appar-
ent that st. Peter was to hold the
leadership in the organization to be
founded by Christ. A promise to that
effect was made by the Master at the
time that st. Peter made that great
profession of faith in the divinity of
Christ. There it became evident that
st. Peter was to have supremacy in
the Church, because he was to be like
the foundation stone upon which this
spiritual edifice was to rest. And
after the resurrection the necessary
jurisdiction was given to him, when
Christ commissioned him to feed His
lambs and His sheep.
The Head of the Christian Community.
st. Peter carried into practice his
commission Immediately after the as
cension of Our Lord. Many circum-
stances narrated in the Acts of the
Apostles show Enthusiastically that he
was at the head of the early Chris
tan community. He took the leading
part in the election of the Apostle
Matthias, who was to take the place
of the traitor Judas. On the day of
the first Pentecost, when the Holy
Ghost came upon the apostles in the
form of fiery tongues, he rose up and
spoke to the Jews assembled in Jeru-
salem and told them of Jesus and of
the wonders wrought by Him. In the
company of st. John he cured, at the
gate of the temple, the lame man in
the name of Jesus; and he punished
Ananias and Saphira for their attempt
at deceiving the apostles in the gift
which they made for the poor in the
| community of Jerusalem. Owing to
his preaching the belief in Jesus
Christ he was cast into prison twice
by the priestly authorities of the Jews,
the first time with John, and the
second time with the other apostles;
and each time it was he who conduct
ed the defense of their action. At the
time that the Apostolic Council was
held in Jerusalem, which was about
the year 81, he took very active
| part in the discussion concerning the
question as to whether Jewish observ-
ances were to be imposed upon the
converts that came to the Church
from paganism. He stood up and de-
clared that it could not be Gods in
| tention to impose upon the disciples
of Christ who came from the heather
world, burden which the Jews them
selves had not been able to bear. And
this view prevailed, and was accepted
| by the Council.
Later Activities.
AS to the special activities of St.
Peter there is not much information
in the writings of the New Testament
nor in the later Christian tradition.
After the martyrdom of st. Stephen
he went around evangelizing the peo-
pie in the cities of Samaria, LYDIA
and Joppe; in Caesarea he brought
about the conversion of the heather
centurion Cornelius About the year
A he was cast into prison by Herod
Agrippa, but was miraculously deliv-
cred, and then departed from Jerusa-
lem. He revisited the Holy City at
the time of the Apostolic Council;
and afterward spent considerable time
in Syria and particularly in the city
of Antioch, where st. Paul met him.
According to later tradition record
ed by Eusebius, the author of an &C.
clesiastical history written in the
early part of the fourth century, he
was the first bishop of Antioch, and
according to a still later authority, st.
Gregory the Great, this episcopate
lasted for seven years. If we may
Judge from his first epistle he evan
gelized the countries Of northern Asia
Minor, such as Pontus, Galatia, Cap
padocia, Asia and Bithynia; it was to
the Christians of these regions that
the letter was written. Finally it
seems that he was also for some time
in Corinth; at least there was a party
of Christians in that city who claimed
to be followers of Cephas or Peter.
st. Peter in Rome.