Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(I Peter 1:10-16; Mark 10:28-31)
It is said that the First Letter of Peter once was as
well-considered as St. Paul’s epistles.
However, in modern times its importance has waned. The principal reason for reason its waning stature
is the questioning of its attribution to Peter, Christ’s lead apostle. Its polished Greek and its addressees --
Greek churches in Asia Minor – indicate that the apostle Peter was not its genuine
author.
Still the message of the letter addresses the needs of Christians
in the latter half of the first century.
It teaches Judeo-Christian mores to peoples who have not long believed
in the one God. It also urges
perseverance in suffering, a reality for many if not most Christians in the
latter first century.
First Peter, as the letter is often called, inspires as well
as instructs. Its opening section telling
of the “new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”
moves Christians across the centuries. We have
a new way of living which will crescendo in unimaginable blessing if we stay
the course.
