The hustle along the shores of the Sea of Galilee was not a distraction to the Master and the disciples to be. Jesus watched Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets. The words he uttered “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men"(Mark 1:17) rang in the ears of the disciples. They left their nets and followed the Messiah. This was the beginning of the journey of the vulnerable ‘Simon’ to the rock, ‘Peter the Martyr’, strengthened by the love of Christ.
The apostle Peter, Simon the son of Jonah, was from Bethsaida in Galilee. After his marriage, he moved to Capernaum with his brother Andrew and were Fishermen. Christ chose the apostle Peter to be the head of the apostles and gave him authority to shepherd the whole flock of his Church, the Church that was to be built on the Peter, the rock. Chosen from among the apostles, Simon was given a new name by Christ saying, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” [which, when translated, is Peter] (John 1:42). That is how the Lord built his Church.
Jesus asked Peter on the way through Caesarea Philippi “Who do you say I am?”. The Apostle Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” After hearing Peter's reply, Christ the Lord said to him, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16: 18-19). Through these words, Christ made it clear that his Church was to be built on this rock, Peter.
Although Peter was chosen as the shepherd and leader of His church and Apostolic community, he too was with human weaknesses and outbursts. When Jesus Christ prophesied his passion and told that he would have to go to Jerusalem, will suffer at the hands of the chief priests and scribes, will be crucified, we see how Peter tries to persuade Jesus not to go through these hardships.
All four Gospel writers narrate the weak side of St. Peter through the account of his denial of his association with Jesus. Though he is warned by Jesus in Mark 14:30 by saying, "Truly, truly, I say to you, this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times", Peter denies his Master thrice. Even after the Lord's resurrection, we see Simon telling the disciples that he was going fishing and thus he returns to his old trade.
However, we see Jesus recommissioning Peter by asking him thrice by the sea of Tiberius whether he loves the Lord. And Peter promptly replies with a “Yes” thrice. Jesus entrusts the care of his flock to Peter. Christ thus re-establishes the apostle Peter, who had fallen on the path of discipleship, as the leader of the apostles and the apostle of the Church.
After the ascension of Christ, the Apostle Peter led the gathering of the disciples in the Upper room and prepared them for the coming of the Holy Spirit and all the subsequent evangelistic activities of the Church. In the same way, it was St. Peter, who, as the head of the apostles and Church, took the lead in electing Matthias to the ranks of the apostles in place of Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed Christ and killed himself. St. Peter also boldly preached the gospel to people from all over the world who had gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
As described in the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle Peter was the leader of the early Church, and was instrumental in proclaiming Christ in Jerusalem and shaping the Christian community there. The central character in the first twelve chapters of Acts of the Apostles is Peter. He was convinced through a vision by Christ that he was called to preach the gospel not only among the Jews but among the Gentiles as well and was to establish his Church. Accordingly, he baptized Cornelius, the centurion of the Roman army, and his family (Acts 10: 1-48).
When the Church was persecuted in Jerusalem, St. Peter remained in Jerusalem, strengthening the members. King Herod killed James, the brother of John, during the religious persecution. When the king saw that this work pleased the Jews, he put Peter also in prison. But he was miraculously brought out of the prison and went to Antioch on public opinion, where he continued his evangelisation. Therefore, Church tradition testifies that Peter's throne was first established in Antioch.
The rule that Gentile Christians must be circumcised according to the law of Moses to be saved, created confusion and sectarianism. Jerusalem Synod was convened to solve this issue between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. St. Peter presided over this synod, the first in the history of the Church. It was attended by the other apostles and elders of the Church. Tradition testifies that after the Synod of Jerusalem, St. Peter went to Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, and engaged in evangelisation and missionary work in Rome. Thus, the core of the church and the throne of Peter were established in Rome.
In A.D. 64, a huge fire broke out in Rome, claiming many lives and causing great damage. News spread throughout Rome that Emperor Nero, the Roman emperor, was behind this. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, Emperor Nero laid the blame on the newly formed Christian community. This was to escape the rumour that he was behind the fire. The Roman people viewed Christianity with skepticism as its customs and practices were different from those of the Roman religion and considered it as an occult group. This created a license to lay the blame on the Christian community and start religious persecution against them. Christians were persecuted and put to death in the worst ways and were constantly ridiculed. They were thrown as food for wild beasts, many killed by crucifixion, and many others burned alive. Emperor Nero saw the persecution of Christians as amusement and started stadiums like the Colosseum for these heinous activities. The period of religious persecution during the reign of Emperor Nero was the worst ever in the history of the Catholic Church.
During these testing times, the pillars of the church, St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred along with the other faithful. The Apostle Peter, who was sentenced to be crucified, said that he was not worthy to be crucified like his Master, but that he was to be crucified upside down. Thus, by accepting the upside-down crucifixion, the first pope of the Church was fully embodied in the life of his martyred Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. The Church remembers these great apostles on their feast celebrated on June 29th.
The remains of St. Peter are buried in Vatican Hill. Pope Anacletus built a church there. Emperor Constantine renovated this church and raised a Basilica in its place. Later, during the reign of Pope Julius II the renovation of St. Peters Basilica commenced. This was finally completed 120 years later during the reign of Pope Innocent X.
transl. SM