Get to Know Peter and Paul
In chapter 13 you learned about Peter and Paul. Here is a chance for you to get to know them better.
Peter and Paul are two great saints who share a feast day, June 29. Yet their lives were very different. The main thing they had in common was their love for Jesus! How much do you know about these two pioneers of the Christian faith? Test your memory with the short quiz below, then check the article that follows.
Peter and his brother, Andrew, were two of the first disciples called by Christ. They left their fishing boats to follow Jesus. Shortly after that, Jesus visited the home of Peter and his wife. Peter's mother-in-law was very sick with a fever, and Jesus healed her. Throughout the years of Jesus' ministry, Peter walked beside him all the way. But when Jesus was arrested, Peter became so afraid that he forgot everything he had learned. Three times he denied knowing Jesus. Then a rooster crowed. The sound reminded Peter how Jesus had told him this would happen. Peter was heartbroken when he realized that he had betrayed Jesus. But then Jesus rose from the dead. He blessed and forgave Peter, and asked him to "feed my lambs," to care for all who would hear Jesus' message. Statues of Peter usually show him carrying keys—the keys to God's kingdom.
Paul was a religious man who thought that serving God meant making sure that the followers of Christ were hunted down. While chasing after some Christians who had fled for their lives, he saw a blinding light and was thrown down from his horse. This experience helped him to understand that Jesus was really the Son of God who had risen from the dead. Then he became a Christian himself. At first Peter and the other Christian leaders weren't sure they could trust Paul. But soon they realized how sincere he was. In fact, Paul traveled all over the known world to spread the message of Jesus. He was shipwrecked and went through many other hardships. When he landed in a city where no one knew him, he earned his living as a tentmaker, preaching the Good News whenever he could. When he left a city, he would write to the Christian community he had left behind. In Scripture, we can still read the letters he wrote. They are filled with encouragement and faith.
