Fr. Martin Ali keke Ndemsou, sx
Reflection on the Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul, Apostles
Saints Peter and Paul are the two greatest pillars of the Church. They remain for us models of an unshakable faith. In the Gospel, the apostle Peter proclaims his faith in Jesus Christ: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” On Saint Peter’s steadfast faith, Jesus built his Church.
In the first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter who was unjustly in prison was miraculously set free by an angel owing to the prayer of the Church. Then what is prayer? If we refer to the Psalm 34, prayer can mean to praise the Lord together; it can mean to seek the Lord; it can also mean to call the Lord.
Built on the rock, the strong faith of Saint Peter in the Lord, the Church expresses the same faith through prayer. Thus Pope Francis in his Catechesis on Prayer said: “Prayer is the breath of faith, it is its most proper expression like a cry that comes from the heart of those who believe and trust in God.”
Like Peter who was set free from the prison owing to the fervent prayer of the Church, the world still needs our prayer to be rescued from Corona Virus. Keep on praying is a sign of faith in the Lord who is neither deaf nor mute.
Faith is the protest against a painful condition whose motive we don’t understand; non-faith is to limit oneself to endure a situation to which we are adapted; faith is hope of being saved; non-faith is to get used to the evil that oppresses us, and continue thus (cf. Catechesis of Pope Francis on Prayer).
Reflection on the Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul, Apostles
Saints Peter and Paul are the two greatest pillars of the Church. They remain for us models of an unshakable faith. In the Gospel, the apostle Peter proclaims his faith in Jesus Christ: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” On Saint Peter’s steadfast faith, Jesus built his Church.
In the first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter who was unjustly in prison was miraculously set free by an angel owing to the prayer of the Church. Then what is prayer? If we refer to the Psalm 34, prayer can mean to praise the Lord together; it can mean to seek the Lord; it can also mean to call the Lord.
Built on the rock, the strong faith of Saint Peter in the Lord, the Church expresses the same faith through prayer. Thus Pope Francis in his Catechesis on Prayer said: “Prayer is the breath of faith, it is its most proper expression like a cry that comes from the heart of those who believe and trust in God.”
Like Peter who was set free from the prison owing to the fervent prayer of the Church, the world still needs our prayer to be rescued from Corona Virus. Keep on praying is a sign of faith in the Lord who is neither deaf nor mute.
Faith is the protest against a painful condition whose motive we don’t understand; non-faith is to limit oneself to endure a situation to which we are adapted; faith is hope of being saved; non-faith is to get used to the evil that oppresses us, and continue thus (cf. Catechesis of Pope Francis on Prayer).