On 29th June the Church celebrates the feast day of two great saints, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Peter and Paul were both friends of Jesus, but their lives were very different.
Peter, a fisherman in Galilee, was first named Simon but Jesus gave him the name ‘Peter’, which means ‘rock’. Jesus told Peter that he would build his Church on this rock. Jesus called Peter to leave his work as a fisherman and follow him. Peter became the leader of the twelve Apostles. He became the first Bishop of Rome: the first Pope.
Paul, a very religious Jew from Tarsus, was first called Saul. He never met Jesus whilst Jesus was on earth. After Jesus had ascended to heaven, Saul was trying to stop the early Christians teaching about Jesus. Then on the road to Damascus, the Risen Jesus appeared to Saul, telling him to stop persecuting Christians and to believe in Jesus. Saul was converted. He became known as Paul and Jesus made him into an Apostle for the Gentiles (the people who were not Jews).
