On the other hand, he has to work on his prudence and humility, and the Scriptures give so many concrete examples of his journey to sanctity. When he jumped out of the fishing boat, smelling of his labors, wiped his hands on his robe, and followed Our Lord, he was not yet a saint. But he was on his way!
He turned his most abject failure, his denial of the Lord on the night when He needed him most, into a springboard for sanctification. His humility and his tears watered the seeds of his faith and love, and sprouted forth good deeds that will go down in history.
When he first came to Rome,
"To these disinherited, these vanquished people, these outcasts, Peter announces the love of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of Heaven. And when he has baptized them, when he has given them the Body and Blood of Christ for their food, when he has imposed his hands upon them, he says, 'You are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people; that you may declare His virtues, Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.' (I Peter 2:9)
"What surprise among those who listened to these words, what emotion, what gratitude! Is it amazing that among the first Christians there were so many poor and so many women? Woman had been abased, crushed by paganism. What joy for her to receive Christ Who has brought her what neither Egypt, nor Greece, nor Rome had granted her -- her honor in purity and charity."
~ Rev. A. Galy, SM, The Friend of Sinners, imprimatur 1930.
How beautiful that St. Peter brought the uplifting influence of Christianity to the women (and men) of Rome! Thank you, St. Peter!
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