St. Peter Damien
Today is the feast of St. Peter Damien, an admittedly lesser known Saint Peter than that other one, but still a very important figure in addressing the way the Church is run.
1. Catholic Word of the Day: simony
This word is named after the biblical figure Simon Magus, who appears opposite St. Peter the Apostle in Acts of the Apostles chapter 8. In this scene, he seeks to buy the power of God from St. Peter to use it like magus (he had been a magician before being baptized). He is rebuked by St. Peter and repents, but his name still lives in infamy.
The word means precisely what happens in the story, trying to buy spiritual power. It has been a temptation throughout human history not just in Christianity, but is especially offensive within Christianity because of the Church’s emphasis on grace being a free gift from God.
2. Learn more about St. Peter Damien
He was a fiery preacher who spoke out against abuses within the Church. He is celebrated as a Doctor, or Teacher, of the Church. Check out this short bio on his powerful story:
3. Dante meets St. Peter Damien in Heaven
In his famous poem, The Divine Comedy, Dante travels through the stages of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven to comment on spiritual and political realities. One of these realities was the corruption within the Church of his own late-1200s time period in Europe. Dante does this through the words of St. Peter Damien, whom he places on the “Saturn” sphere of heaven, which represents the virtue of Temperance.
4. The Tower of Babel
In today’s Mass first reading, we see an example of the height of human corruption in the telling of the tower of Babel story. Here, humanity tries to put themselves on the level of God by creating a way to reach him through our own abilities without his help (kind of like the sin of simony trying to harness God’s power through our own means of money). Here is a great video from Fr. Mike Schmitz from his Bible in a Year podcast on the Tower of Babel:
5. God builds the kingdom
Okay, so we should not build the Tower of Babel ourselves, then what? The Psalm (Psalm 33: 10-11, 12-13, 14-15) and Gospel (Mark 8: 34 – 9:1) readings from today highlight the importance of letting God take the lead and build the Kingdom. We are meant to seek out, listen and then cooperate with God’s will. Follow the links to the Psalm and Gospel readings above and reflect on them yourself!