I noticed an advertisement for a parish youth minister. Among the qualifications listed were, Bachelor’s Degree, passion for sharing the faith, ability to interact with students and parents, organizational skills, a creative evangelistic approach to ministry, and passion for sharing the Catholic faith. Finding such a person may be a challenge.
Thinking of the qualifications that are put forth for lay ministers, I wonder what qualifications Jesus had in mind when he set up the “pillars” of the Church. Today we celebrate the feast day of the two leading “pillars of our faith,” Sts. Peter and Paul.
Peter owned a small fishing business, probably had no formal education, was impetuous; we wonder about his organizational skills, creativity, and ability to interact effectively with people.
Paul was trained in the Bible under a great rabbi named Gamaliel and had great, though misguided skill. His main accomplishment in life was that he led a campaign to arrest and execute every Christian in the Mideast. He was probably, by nature, and angry, ruthless, and egotistical man.
If Jesus had hired a personnel agency to do search for potential leaders in his organization, neither Peter nor Paul would have been in the top one hundred candidates. And yet these are the two men God used to lead the early Church in establish the presence of Jesus in the world.
Nearing the end of his life, Paul wrote (2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18):
“The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed, and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.”
Paul faced impossible situations and endured constant persecution. If he stood only on his natural abilities, he would have collapsed after one month of missionary work. He was aware that the secret to his success was the grace of God working in him. It was the Lord who stood by him, gave him strength, and helped him complete his work among the Gentiles.
God gave Peter the revelation to recognize Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 16:13-19).
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
After Peter proclaimed this, Jesus assigned Peter the job of leading the Church.
“And so I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.”
God was going to take this bumbling disciple and make a rock of him. Then God would do the building. The Church that God was about to build would be so strong that the gates of the netherworld could not hold it back. Furthermore, Jesus had so much confidence in the “new Peter” that he entrusted to him the keys of the Kingdom of God.
Both of these leaders were severely humbled before God could use them. Peter denied Jesus three times, Paul was thrown to the ground and lost his eyesight. From the dust God raised them and then re-formed them into Jesus’ likeness.
When we look at ourselves, we realize our faults and weaknesses and wonder why Jesus called us. What qualifications do we have? If God could use the likes of Peter and Paul, he can use the likes of us. Humbly admitting our own weaknesses, and, at the same time trusting in God’s power, we ask him to use us in building his Kingdom on earth.
