The Feast of the Apostles

An Apostle is one who is sent out by our Lord Jesus Christ to spread the gospel that he is the Messiah, that he is risen, and that we are being saved as a result. The word apostle comes from the Greek αποστολος, literally meaning “one who is sent out.“ Originally a military term referring to a sortie sent out against the enemy, apostle has in the Christian context come to refer to a missionary spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. The divinely-blessed Peter was from Bethsaida of Galilee. He was the son of Jonas and the brother of Andrew the First-called. He was a fisherman by trade, unlearned and poor, and was called Simon; later he was renamed Peter by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who looked at him and said, “Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter)“ (John 1:42). Paul, the chosen vessel of Christ, the glory of the Church, the Apostle of the Nations and teacher of the whole world, was a Jew by race, of the tribe of Benjamin, having Tarsus as his home