Continued series on the Apostles
Andrew
Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist until he heard Jesus, was convinced that he was the Messiah, and began to follow him. The Byzantine Church calls him Protokletos, or “the first called.” He then convinced his brother, Simon Peter, to follow as well.
Following the Ascension of Christ, Andrew preached in Scythia, a large area of Central Asia that includes southern Russia down to Afghanistan and Pakistan and west to the Danube River. It is said that he preached along the Black Sea and up the Dnieper River to Kiev, and from there travelled to Novgorod in Russia. He is, therefore, the patron saint of Ukraine, Romania, and Russia. He then returned south and preached in Thrace (present-day Bulgaria and European-Turkey) where he founded the church in Byzantium (Constantinople, a.k.a. Istanbul). In 38, he installed Stachys as bishop, and their bishopric became what is today the Patriarchate of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Andrew was eventually martyred by crucifixion in the city of Patras, Achaea (western Greece) in 60. He is said to have been crucified on a cross in the form called crux decussata, an X-shaped cross, which is now known as “Saint Andrew’s Cross.” Similar to his brother Peter, he asked for this since he did not see himself as worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Christ. The “Saint Andrew’s Cross” has been popular in heraldry and flags, perhaps most famously with the flag of Scotland and the Union Jack, among many others.
John
John the Apostle is also known as John the Evangelist since he was the author of the Gospel of John. In that Gospel, he is known as “the beloved disciple,” and we hear that he was the only disciple present at the Crucifixion, at which time Jesus placed his mother Mary in his care. John was the youngest of the apostles, and also the only one to die of natural causes.
It is believed that John and Mary lived in Ephesus (present-day Turkey) for some time, leading the Christians in that region. While in Ephesus, he also wrote the three letters that are attributed to him in the Bible. According to Tertullian, John was arrested and taken to Rome where he was plunged in boiling oil, with no effect to him. The audience of the Colosseum which witnessed this miracle converted to Christianity. John was then banished to the Greek island of Patmos, where he had the visions which lead to the writing of the Book of Revelation.
As an older man, the last of the apostles, John trained St. Polycarp, who became the Bishop of Smyrna and in turn taught St. Irenaeus, from whom many of the traditions of St. John are passed down. St. Ignatius of Antioch was also a student of John. It is said that at the end of his life, the Christians would ask him to preach, and he would only repeat the phrase, “Little children, love one another!” When asked why he did this, he said it was because it was the Teacher’s most important message. St. John died at Ephesus around the year 100.
Peter
Peter was, of course, the head of the Apostles and had a massively important role in the development of the early Church. While most of the Apostles traveled far and wide to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people), Peter remained in Jerusalem for a while to preach to the Jewish people. We can learn a bit about his life in the Acts of the Apostles. We also have two letters written by him in the Bible to hear his theology.
Eventually James the Just became the head of the Church in Jerusalem and Peter travelled to other areas of the Roman Empire. It is believed that he first traveled to Antioch to become their first bishop. He may have also visited Corinth. We do know that he eventually traveled to Rome itself to establish the Church in Rome and become the first Bishop of Rome. Thus, he established the papacy, since from that time on his successor at the Bishop of Rome has been known as the pope and the head of the Church. Peter was aided greatly by St. Paul to establishing the Roman Church, adding to the strength of the claim of Rome as the center of the Christian Church. In fact, popes often sign their name with “P.P.”, standing for Peter and Paul. It was in Rome that he wrote his letters, which he signed from “Babylon,” code for Rome.
It is believed that Peter was one of many Christians martyred following the Great Fire of Rome in 64, which Emperor Nero blamed on the Christians.
Tradition states that he was fleeing Rome to avoid execution when he saw Jesus on the road. He asked “Quo vadis, Domine?” (“Where are you going, Lord?”) Christ’s reply was “Romam eo iterum crucifigi,” “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.” At that, Peter returned to the city to be martyred.
He was sentenced to be crucified on Vatican Hill, a hill located across the Tiber River from the seven hills of Rome that make up the early city. Feeling unworthy to be killed the same way as the Lord, he requested and was granted the unusual martyrdom of being crucified with his head down. He was buried in Vatican Hill which years later became the location of St. Peter’s Basilica, the most famous church in the world. The original basilica was built by Emperor Constantine I in the Fourth Century. The current basilica was built between 1506 and 1626.
In the 1950s, an excavation under the altar of St. Peter’s revealed human bones. In the following decade the bones were examined and were found to be of a male around the age of 60 from the First Century.
Pope St. John Paul II Homily
Pope St. John Paul II Homily on
Divine Mercy Sunday, April 22, 2001 (part 2)
4. The Gospel, which has just been proclaimed, helps us to grasp the full sense and value of this gift. The Evangelist John makes us share in the emotion felt by the Apostles in their meeting with Christ after his Resurrection. Our attention focuses on the gesture of the Master, who transmits to the fearful, astounded disciples the mission of being ministers of divine Mercy. He shows them his hands and his side, which bear the marks of the Passion, and tells them: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." (John 20: 21) Immediately afterwards "he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.' " (John 20: 22-23) Jesus entrusted to them the gift of "forgiving sins," a gift that flows from the wounds in his hands, his feet, and especially from his pierced side. From there a wave of mercy is poured out over all humanity.
Let us relive this moment with great spiritual intensity. Today the Lord also shows us his glorious wounds and his heart, an inexhaustible source of light and truth, of love and forgiveness.
5. The Heart of Christ! His "Sacred Heart" has given men everything: redemption, salvation, sanctification. St Faustina Kowalska saw coming from this Heart that was overflowing with generous love, two rays of light which illuminated the world. "The two rays," according to what Jesus himself told her, "represent the blood and the water." (Diary, p. 132) The blood recalls the sacrifice of Golgotha and the mystery of the Eucharist; the water, according to the rich symbolism of the Evangelist John, makes us think of Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 3: 5; 4: 14).
Through the mystery of this wounded heart, the restorative tide of God's merciful love continues to spread over the men and women of our time. Here alone can those who long for true and lasting happiness find its secret.
6. "Jesus, I trust in you." This prayer, dear to so many of the devout, clearly expresses the attitude with which we too would like to abandon ourselves trustfully in your hands, O Lord, our only Savior.
You are burning with the desire to be loved and those in tune with the sentiments of your heart learn how to build the new civilization of love. A simple act of abandonment is enough to overcome the barriers of darkness and sorrow, of doubt and desperation. The rays of your divine mercy restore hope, in a special way, to those who feel overwhelmed by the burden of sin.
Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us always to have this trust in your Son, our Redeemer. Help us too, St Faustina, whom we remember today with special affection. Fixing our weak gaze on the divine Savior’s face, we would like to repeat with you: "Jesus, I trust in you." Now and forever. Amen.
on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 22, 2001 (part 1)
1. "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore" (Rev. 1: 17-18).
We heard these comforting words in the Second Reading taken from the Book of Revelation. They invite us to turn our gaze to Christ, to experience his reassuring presence. To each person, whatever his condition, even if it were the most complicated and dramatic, the Risen One repeats: "Fear not!"; I died on the Cross but now "I am alive for evermore"; "I am the first and the last, and the living one".
"The first", that is, the source of every being and the first-fruits of the new creation; "the last", the definitive end of history; "the living one", the inexhaustible source of life that triumphed over death for ever. In the Messiah, crucified and risen, we recognize the features of the Lamb sacrificed on Golgotha, who implores forgiveness for his torturers and opens the gates of heaven to repentant sinners; we glimpse the face of the immortal King who now has "the keys of Death and Hades" (Rev. 1: 18).
2. "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures forever!" (Ps. 117: 1).
Let us make our own the Psalmist's exclamation which we sang in the Responsorial Psalm: the Lord's mercy endures forever! In order to understand thoroughly the truth of these words, let us be led by the liturgy to the heart of the event of salvation, which unites Christ's Death and Resurrection with our lives and with the world's history. This miracle of mercy has radically changed humanity's destiny. It is a miracle in which is unfolded the fullness of the love of the Father who, for our redemption, does not even draw back before the sacrifice of his Only-begotten Son.
In the humiliated and suffering Christ, believers and non-believers can admire a surprising solidarity, which binds him to our human condition beyond all imaginable measure. The Cross, even after the Resurrection of the Son of God, "speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father, who is absolutely faithful to his eternal love for man.... Believing in this love means believing in mercy (Dives in misericordia, n. 7).
Let us thank the Lord for his love, which is stronger than death and sin. It is revealed and put into practice as mercy in our daily lives and prompts every person in turn to have "mercy" towards the Crucified One. Is not loving God and loving one's neighbor and even one's "enemies", after Jesus' example, the program of life of every baptized person and of the whole Church?
3. With these sentiments we are celebrating the Second Sunday of Easter, which since last year, the year of the Great Jubilee, is also called "Divine Mercy Sunday". It is a great joy for me to be able to join all of you, dear pilgrims and faithful who have come from various nations to commemorate, after one year, the canonization of Sr Faustina Kowalska, witness and messenger of the Lord's merciful love. The elevation to the honors of the altar of this humble religious, a daughter of my land, is not only a gift for Poland but for all humanity. Indeed, the message she brought is the appropriate and incisive answer that God wanted to offer to the questions and expectations of human beings in our time, marked by terrible tragedies. Jesus said to Sr Faustina one day: "Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine Mercy" (Diary, p. 132). Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity at the dawn of the third millennium.