My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

JUNE 29th - THE FEAST OF SAINTS PETER PAUL

The Life of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

Holy Apostle Peter, the preeminent Apostle of the Lord and the brother of the First-Called Apostle Andrew, was known as Simon, son of Jonas (Jonah), who was a Jew of the Tribe of Simeon. He was a native of Bethsaida, an insignificant and little-known town of Galilee in Palestine. He lived in poverty during the years when Hyrcanus was a high priest of the Jews. After the repose of Peter's mother, Peter took to wife the daughter of Aristovoulos, the brother of the holy Apostle Barnabus, and begat children of her: a son and a daughter. Simon was a simple and unlettered man. Imbued with the fear of God, he observed all the Commandments of the Lord. He walked blamelessly in His sight in all his works. Simon was a fisherman by trade. As a poor man, he provided for his family by his manual labor. Thus, he fed his wife, children, and mother-in-law. He was fair with a slightly sallow tone in his complexion. His eyes were the color of blood like wine. His hair was white and thick. He had a long nose and eyebrows that were somewhat inverted. He was of average height with a straight and upright frame. He was intelligent and prudent. Divine zeal impelled him against injustice and wrong. He was quick and fearless in retracting previous decisions, as will be seen in a later episode when the Lord washed the Disciples' feet.

Saint Andrew, Simon's brother, disdaining the vanity of this tumultuous world, chose to remain a celibate. He went to Saint John the Baptist by the Jordan, who was preaching repentance and became his disciple. He had his teacher's testimony concerning Jesus Christ the Messiah. He heard, in particular, the words Saint John uttered when he pointed to the Lord and said: 'Behold, the Lamb of God' (John 1:36). Saint Andrew, thereupon, left Saint John and, with another of the Baptist's disciples, followed after the Lord Jesus. "And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and saith to them, "What seek ye?" And they said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), "where art Thou staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." Then they went and saw where He was staying. And they stayed with Him that day (John 1:37).

Discipleship for the Apostle Peter

The following day, in the morning, Andrew went to his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is, being interpreted, the Christ), and he led him to Jesus. And having looked at him, Jesus said, "Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas. Thou shalt be called Kephas" (which is interpreted, a stone) [John 1:41-42]. Straightway, Peter was aflame with love for the Lord, believing in Him as the True Christ sent by God for the salvation of the world. Yet he neither quit his home nor forsook his occupation. He continued to provide for his household with all that was necessary for survival; in this responsibility, Simon's brother Andrew sometimes helped him for the sake of their elderly father. And thus did the brothers live until the Lord summoned them to the Apostolic Ministry (Diakonia).

One day, after Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner was imprisoned to Herod's dungeon, the Lord Jesus Christ withdrew into the Galilee. He was walking past the Sea of Galilee (which is also known as the Sea of Tiberias on the Lake of Gennesaret). He espied the two brothers: Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother. They, as fisherman, were throwing a casting-net into the sea, Jesus said to them, "Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). Straightway, they left the nets and followed Jesus.

The Apostle Peter's Mother-in-law and Others Are Healed

The Lord loved the Apostle Peter for his simplicity of heart. Now after Jesus and the disciples came out of the synagogue (Gk. synagogy), they went into the house of Simon and Andrew, with Iakovos (James) and John (Ioannis). "The mother-in-law of Simon was ill with a fever" (Mark 1:30). Immediately, they spoke to Jesus about her condition. Jesus "came and took hold of her hand, and raised her up. And immediately the fever left her, and she began ministering to them. And evening having come to pass when the sun did set, they kept on bringing to Him all those who were ill, and those possessed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And He cured many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many demons, and He was not allowing the demons to talk, because they knew Him. (Mark 1:31-34).

The Lord Jesus then rose up very early at night. He went out and departed into a desolate place, where He was praying. "And Simon and those with him followed hard after Him [Mark 1:36]. "They found Him and said, "All are seeking Thee". And He said to them, "Let us be going into the neighboring village-towns, in order that I might preach there also, for it was for this I have come forth". And He was preaching in their synagogues in all Galilee and casting out the demons (Mark 1:37-39).

The Holy Apostle Peter Confesses Jesus to e the Christ, the Son of God

On another occasion when the Lord was preaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, He said, "Verily, verily, I say to you, unless ye should eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye are not having life in yourselves. The one who partaketh of My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life: and I will raise him in the last day. For My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink. The one who eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him. Even as the Living Father sent Me forth, and I live because of the Father, also the one who eateth Me, even he shall live because of Me. This One is the bread, the One having come down out of the heavens--not as your fathers ate the manna, and died. The one who eateth this bread shall live forever" (John 6:53-58). (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)

(To be continued)

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Please note: What do you all say after you hear the Lord's Divine words of what it means to receive Holy Communion? Are some of you still afraid to lose your earthly life by receiving it? Do you still believe that illness and viruses are transmitted through the Precious Blood and Sacred Body of Christ the Lord? Or by using the same Communion spoon (Lavida) which carries His Body and Blood to you "for the remission of your sins and life Eternal? What little faith?

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry},
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George