Happy Saint Peter's Day June 29 #Fortnight4Freedom #trcot

From Lee, Kay, Marshall Lee, Kate Greenaway, and Eugène Grasset. The Illuminated Book of Days. New York: Putnam, 1979. Print. June 29 is Feast Day for St. Peter

According to St. Peter's Fiesta wesbite, it looks like folks in Gloucester, Massachusetts still host both secular and profane activities on the first pope's feast day, carting his statue all over the place, in a "Where's Waldo" fashion:

From "A.D. The Bible Continues", Peter reminds Cornelius that he's just a simple fisherman:

Father Daniel Lord in his children's picture book biography of saints reminds us that Peter was called by Jesus to also be a fisher of men as well as a fisher of fish from  Lord, Daniel A. Miniature Stories of the Saints. Vol. One. New York: W.J. Hirten, 1943. Print.

Reminding followers that Saint Peter started out as a lowly proletarian fisherman goes back at least to Medieval Ages:

It seems Fr. Lord changed the iconography of St. Peter from a Cleves green and white New York Jets fan (from Heritage Uniforms and Jerseys blog)

to a burgundy and gold Washington Redskins fan (again from Heritage Uniforms and Jerseys) :

An article on the travails of tilapia Biblical fisherman  from  Alexander, Pat, and David Alexander. Zondervan Handbook to the Bible. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan House, 1999. Print.

A point of Catholic trivia I never heard of before regarding the number of prayers in the rosary 153 equaling the number of fish Peter caught from John 21:11

"So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn."

Here's a screen save of the tweet since the embed function is working right now for me:

And, snarky snark snark, it would be great if one of those fishes had some drachmas in their mouth to help me pay my taxes :-)

Messianic Rabbi Kirt Schneider quotes 1 Peter 5:8 in his  "Self Deliverance, Unforgiveness, Woundedness, Trauma" sermon:




In case the link breaks, the pertinent quote from 1 Peter 5:8

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

 Zondervan includes a mosaic of Peter's warning about hungry lions wishing to devour us:

St. Peter bio from Catholic.org explains where all the key business comes from:

"Christ responded by saying: '... you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.... He added: 'I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven'"

Which is Matthew 16:18-19

"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

From CatholicCulture.org "Catholic Activity: June 29: Feast of Saint Peter" is, of course, to eat some flounder for the sometimes floundering fisher of men.

Saladinha de Espinafre com Morango acompanhada de Saint Peter com Limão #Fish #seafood #sa… http://t.co/u3v69dbq4F pic.twitter.com/h8dSNazyhm

— mSpawn (@mspawn) June 27, 2015

The Vatican includes a cautionary mosaic by Giovanni Lanfranco on the subject of Peter sinking into the sea after taking his eyes off Jesus, from "Altar of the Navicella" post from stpetersbasilica.info website:

Again, Rabbi Schneider reminds us that keeping your eyes on Jesus to prevent being swamped and overwhelmed by the turmoil of the world is good advice for us, today, just as it was for Peter back in Biblical times:

Reciting the Rosary in #OperationMarketGarden & #ABridgeTooFar

 Robert Redford's character, Major Julian Cook, 3rd Battalion Commander, in the film "A Bridge too Far" about WWII "Operation Market Garden" recites "Hail Mary" in this trailer @2:00

A clip from the documentary film "Maggie's War: A True Story of Courage, Leadership, and Valor in World War II" confirms "A Bridge Too Far" anecdote: @4:50 Batt Cmdr reciting rosary crossing Waal River under Nazi gunfire:

A BBC documentary blames the British tank commander for refusing to advance to relieve British paratroops and scotching the whole operation.





On twitter, protestants were slagging off Catholics who recite the rosary:

Repeating the rosary endlessly about Mary is not worship? .@adagioforstring @gloryoftheSon @TalonsPoint @toby_dorena @GaryDotson
— Chuck Plum (@ChuckUmeboshi) May 17, 2014

I countered that the Bible cautions specifically against vain repetition vs just plain repetition:

@gloryoftheSon @toby_dorena @antignostic @ChuckUmeboshi @TalonsPoint @GaryDotson Think key word in quote is adjective "vain"
— Bossy Adagio (@adagioforstring) May 18, 2014

Emily Cavins in her October 13, 2015 article "Is the Rosary ‘Vain Repetition’?" corroborates my POV with a Bible Quote point - counter point debate:

"Oftentimes, Matthew 6:7 is cited as the basis for criticizing the Rosary, since some translations of this verse use the phrase 'vain repetitions,' and the recitation of ten Hail Mary prayers within a decade of the Rosary could be seen as such. In the Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition, however, it reads, 'And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.'
If the Rosary WAS vain repetition, then this criticism may be valid. In reality though, it is anything but vain! Here’s a well-known Scripture verse that certainly applies to the Rosary: 'Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects' (James 5:16)."

So, I don't know if this website is correct in its characterization:

As bullets and shrapnel tore through the vulnerable paratroopers, Cook, a devout Catholic, recited the Rosary loudly, giving his men inspiration in a desperate situation.

I suspect if there were Protestants in the boat, they were extremely annoyed at hearing an "evil" "pagan idol worshiper" reciting what some Protestants believe to be blasphemy....but they got across and completed their leg of the mission, regardless.