NEBAB #10: The Feast of St Peter and St Paul

     NEBAB #10

The Orthodox Tewahedo Magazine

THE FAST OF ST PETER AND ST PAUL

The Spiritual Education Unit

Ethiopian Orthodox Church

Archdiocese of the Caribbean and Latin America

The Feast of Peter and Paul

In this issue:

    1. Two ministries, one celebration

    2. Apostolic Brotherhood

    3. Faith and works

    4. “Ask Abba/Kes”

    5. A Miracle of the Holy Virgin Maryam

    6. Children’s corner

    7.ይበል ግዕዝ 

    8. Orthodox Q&A

Bible Commentary (St John Chrysostom)

Galatians 2:11

 “His words are, When Cephas came to Antioch, I resisted him to the face, because he stood condemned; that is, not by me but by others; had he himself condemned him, he would not have shrunk from saying so. And the words, I resisted him to the face, imply a scheme for had their discussion been real, they would not have rebuked each other in the presence of the disciples, for it would have been a great stumblingblock to them. But now this apparent contest was much to their advantage; as Paul had yielded to the Apostles at Jerusalem, so in turn they yield to him at Antioch. The cause of censure is this, For before that certain came from James, who was the teacher at Jerusalem, he did eat with the Gentiles, but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing them that were of the Circumcision: his cause of fear was not his own danger, (for if he feared not in the beginning, much less would he do so then,) but their defection.”

May we hear the word of life!

Why are these two apostles celebrated together?

St Peter, one of the 12, and St Paul, called after our Lord’s ascension- why do they share a feast day? The tradition of their martyrdom tells us that they were both martyred in the same city, Rome, by the same emperor, Nero, and some say they were martyred on the same day! Famously, one of Nero’s relatives who became a Christian when St Peter preached in Rome saw them walking together wearing royal vestments and the crowns of martyrdom, after she had passed St Paul on the way to the executioner. But the reason for their connection, beloved readers, has to do with the calling and purpose of God. St Peter and St Paul were both called to be stones in the foundation of the Church. Regardless of their differing ministries, the time of their calling, or the primacy of Peter, they worked in the same vineyard and received the same reward. (St Matthew 20:1-16)

Paul’s rebuke of Peter- brotherly love prevailed  

There are many who read passages like 1 Corinthians 1:10-12, or Galatians 2:11, and assume that these holy apostles were rivals or that their relationship tells us of a split in the church. Do not be deceived! These bishops were both filled with the Holy Spirit, and when they came together, Christ was in the midst (St Matthew 18:19-20). As St John Chrysostom tells us:

“Many of those who read this passage of the letter superficially believe that Paul rebuked the hypocrisy of Peter. But it is not so—it is not so, far from it! For we shall find that there was here a deep though hidden understanding between Paul and Peter for the good of those who listen. … How could one who risked his life before such a multitude have ever played the hypocrite? …”

St Paul’s rebuke of St Peter was concerning the matter of circumcision, along with the other Mosaic laws, and it was this matter that came to a head at the council in Jerusalem, presided over by St James. For the early church, figuring out how to bridge the gap between Jews and Gentiles was a matter of no small significance. In Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, and His kingdom on earth must reflect this. Therefore St John Chrysostom continues:

“The apostles, as I said before, consented to circumcision in Jerusalem, because it was not possible to tear them away from the law all at once. But when they came to Antioch they did not henceforth observe anything of the kind but lived indifferently with believers of Gentile origin. Peter also did this. But when people came from Judea and saw him preaching there in this way, he gave up this practice, fearing to disturb them, and changed his ways. He had a twofold purpose, to avoid scandalizing the Jews and to give Paul a plausible reason to confront him.”

There is another lesson to taken from the brotherhood of Peter and Paul- and let this be a ready defense for those of us living among the Latin papists (Roman Catholics) who insist that other churches should ‘submit to Rome’- what St Peter’s primacy really means. We call Peter the arch-apostle, or the bishop of bishops, St John the Evangelist even called him “the teacher and father of the world”. St Peter is primus inter pares, a Latin phrase that means ‘first among equals’, which tells us both that he is recognised as having primacy (firstness), and that he is equal in rank to his brothers, the apostles. That St Paul rebuked St Peter publicly teaches us that while the eldest brother in the position to resolve matters between the younger brothers, the younger brothers can also correct the eldest if need be.

May their prayer and blessing be with us forever, amen.

Faith and works:

Lessons from our fathers

Let the lives of the holy apostles be exemplary for us! How can we follow in their footsteps and commemorate them daily?

+ “I go to Rome to be crucified”- our Lord’s response when St Peter met Him on the road. St Peter was fleeing the persecution of Rome, as the faithful in the city implored him to avoid Nero’s wrath. Peter asked Christ where He was going, and our Lord’s answer accused St Peter of not sharing in Christ’s suffering. Immediately our father Peter turned back and went to his martyrdom! Let us share in His suffering!

+ “It is hard for you to kick against the goads”- before his conversion, St Paul was zealous and eager to do something, but he had to come under the order of the Church in order to accomplish anything. He did not begin his ministry without baptism, nor did he shepherd his flock without respecting the boundaries of each bishop’s diocese. Let us submit our zeal to the Church order!

Ask Abba/Kes

"I pray at home, read my Bible, follow service online… why do you always ask why I’m not at church?"

This  is not enough. As Christian people, you have to gather. This is the Church law. If we want to know why gathering is necessary for Christians, we can look at St Paul’s instruction in the book of Romans 15:31. He tells the Christians to pray together for him, even though he is a bishop, he needs their prayer. He did not ask for their private prayers, they had to pray together in church.

BIBLE QUIZ!

In which Bible verse is the sacrament of unction of the sick described?

 

A Miracle of the Holy Virgin Maryam

The Virgin Mary and the Child Mary who wanted to receive the Offering

There was a certain God-fearing man who loved Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, and his country was Dafra. He was married to a woman with whom he had three children: two boys and a girl. The mother of the children died, and they mourned for her. Now the girl was young, and she was called “Mary.” On the day of the Festival of the Glorious Nativity, it happened that the two boys wished to go to the church, and they left the little girl [in the house]. They locked the door on her so that she could not go out, for it was night.

Mary wept and cried out, saying, “Take me with you, and let me join you to partake of the Offering.” But they refused [to take] her and went on their way. Then the little girl went to the picture of Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, and she cried out with tears, saying, “My dear Lady, have compassion for me and give me consolation. ”Straightaway Our Holy Lady, the Virgin Mary, who brings joy and consolation to those who pray to her, appeared to the girl and said to her, “What ails you, my dear daughter?”

Our Lady Mary embraced the child, who responded, “They would not let me go to the church to partake of the Offering during the holy festival celebrating the day our Redeemer was born.” Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, said to her, “Do not be sad, but come.” She carried the child to the church, where she partook of the Offering with the people who were enlightened.

Then Our Lady Mary said to the child, “Three days from now I will take you, and you will be with me.” Three days later the child departed this life, and the Virgin Mary dressed the girl in garments that matched her own. A certain good, righteous, and God-fearing man saw the child arrayed in purple and following Our Lady Mary, Holy Virgin Twofold, the Mother of God, who redeemed us. He marveled greatly, and when he told the people what he had seen, they praised the Glorious and Most High God and gave thanks to Our Lady Mary.

O Mary, who took away in secret

A certain maiden, and arrayed her in purple:

Your sandals are bound on [your feet], and the staff with you is life.

Wherever you go, my dear Lady, make me worthy to follow.

Blessed is the man who follows the Lady [Mary]!

All those who saw marveled, and those who heard prayed to Our Lady Mary.

O Holy Virgin Maryam, pray for us!

LIJOCH! The Children's Corner

Let’s get to know our holy fathers! Without checking your Bible, say which quote was written by St Peter and which was written by St Paul!

"But as He who has called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conduct;"

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him"

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:"

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

"We then that are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves."

"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness."

ይበል:ግዕዝ (yibel Ge’ez)

Let's reclaim our forefathers’ language

Today we learn a useful suffix (addition to the end of a word), -አዊ (-awi). -አዊ can be translated as ‘of or relating to’. Its closest English counterpart is -ly, but it can be translated in many forms in English:

ሐዋርያ - ሐዋርያዊ

apostle - apostolic

ናዝሬት -     ናዝራዊ    

Nazareth - Nazarene/Nazarite/of Nazareth

We can see -አዊ in use in this song:

በእደ ዮሐንስ ተጠምቀ ኢየሱስ ናዝራዊ

ሠማያዊ (×4) ኢየሱስ ናዝራዊ

“By the hand of John He was baptised, Jesus of Nazareth; The heavenly Jesus of Nazareth”

As you can see, when adding this suffix, the last letter takes its 4th ‘ah’ form, “absorbing” the አ, then adding ዊ.

ORTHODOX Q&A

Why do your paintings look that way?

Those paintings are icons- holy art that acts as a window into heaven, a reminder to the believer of who is portrayed in the icon, and a teacher of theology. The images are not to be realistic, because icons are about representing the hidden spiritual nature of things, and focusing too much on the physical earthly nature would distract and blind us from the deeper spiritual nature.

Did Paul really write Hebrews?

Some modern ‘scholars’ love to dispute and challenge the authorship of the Scriptures. Such things cannot truly be known outside of the tradition of the Church which was founded on the very people who wrote the Scriptures. Tradition teaches that St Paul wrote 14 letters, listed in the Bible from Romans to Hebrews. He did not identify himself in Hebrews as in the others because the Hebrew people knew him as a former persecutor, and some might not trust or esteem him as a result. Prioritising the message over himself, he omitted his name.

Send us your questions at: seu.eotccarla@gmail.com

References

Commentaries of St John Chrysostom: ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf113.iii.iii.ii.html

Miracle of the Holy Virgin Mary: pemm.princeton.edu/stories/27

CONTACT US:

Archdiocese headquarters: Medhane Alem (Saviour of the World), Old Golden Grove Rd. Arouca, Trinidad and Tobago.

Tel. 868-642-4230.

e-mail: eotc.arch.carla@gmail.com

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