Status Updates From Peter: Keys to Following Jesus

“You can't separate the king from his kingdom. Or, in other words, you can't separate Jesus from his Church. You can't be loyal to the king if you don't submit to his kingdom. Rather, you must be faithful to and love those to whom the king has given authority in the kingdom. In regard to the followers of Christ, this means that you can't be loyal to Christ if you don't submit to his Church”

“We think that once we have come close to God that we're going to be safe and protected. We expect to prosper and believe that everything will be great, but then we have a crisis and are scandalized, wondering why we must suffer. It's because we follow a crucified Lord, and his discipleship takes a cruciform shape.”

“Seeing Jesus walk on the water, he marveled—and wanted to do the same. This spontaneous reaction of Peter reminds us of the time when Jesus told his disciples that unless they became like little children, they could not enter the kingdom of Heaven. When children see something they like, the first thing they want to know is if they can do it, too. Here we see the childlike nature of Peter in its fullness.”

“The greatest obstacle to generosity is not the meanness and hardness of heart of people like Ebenezer Scrooge. Rather, the greatest impediment to generosity is fear of the future. And the opposite of fear is faith.”

“Sometimes we make things too complicated. We think that evangelization means to give someone the whole of Catholic Tradition, Scripture, and theology. In the end, we get so overwhelmed that we don't even begin. But if you've ever introduced two people who didn't know each other, you're already equipped. That is all evangelization is—introducing two people.”