The fire crackled in a courtyard in Jerusalem, and a fisherman tried to look invisible.

It was the middle of the night.

Inside the high priest's house, his best friend was on trial for his life.

A servant girl peered at him through the smoke.

You were with him, weren't you?

He said no.

Then he said it again.

The third time, he swore he had never known the man at all.

And somewhere in the dark, a rooster crowed.

This is not how most heroes' stories go.

But it is exactly where the story of St. Peter the Apostle turns.

A Working Man From Galilee

Before he was Peter, he was Simon.

He was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, working the nets with his brother Andrew.

The Gospels connect him to the lakeside towns of Bethsaida and Capernaum, where he had a home and a family.

He was married, since the Gospels tell us Jesus healed his mother-in-law.

He was not a scholar or a priest.

He smelled like fish and worked with his hands.

One day, after a long night of catching nothing, a traveling teacher told him to put out into deep water and lower his nets again.

The catch was so large the nets began to tear.

Simon fell to his knees and begged Jesus to leave him, because he was a sinful man.

Jesus did not leave.

He told Simon that from now on he would catch people.

Simon left his boat behind and followed.

Bold, Loud and Often Wrong

Peter is the most vivid personality among the Twelve.

He is always the first to speak.

He is often the first to be corrected.

When Jesus walked on the water during a storm, it was Peter who climbed out of the boat to go to him.

For a few steps he walked on the waves.

Then he looked at the wind, panicked and began to sink, and Jesus caught him by the hand.

That scene could be a summary of his whole life.

Courage, then fear, then rescue.

The Rock

Near the town of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples a question.

Who do you say that I am?

It was Simon who answered.

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus responds by giving him a new name.

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.

The name meant rock, Cephas in Aramaic.

Jesus promised to give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, an image of authority that Catholics have always understood as the foundation of the papacy.

It is a stunning promise to make to a man like Peter.

Only moments later in that same chapter, Peter tries to talk Jesus out of going to the cross, and Jesus rebukes him sharply.

The rock was still very human.

The Night He Broke

At the Last Supper, Peter declared that even if everyone else fell away, he never would.

He said he was ready to go to prison and to death.

Jesus told him that before the rooster crowed, he would deny him three times.

Hours later, in the garden of Gethsemane, Peter fell asleep while Jesus prayed in agony.

When the soldiers came, he drew a sword and struck a servant.

And then, by the fire in the courtyard, his courage collapsed.

Luke's Gospel adds a heartbreaking detail.

After the rooster crowed, the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Peter went out and wept bitterly.

The man chosen to be the rock had cracked completely.

Another Charcoal Fire

After the Resurrection, Peter went back to the only thing he knew how to do.

He went fishing.

Once again he caught nothing all night.

Once again a figure on the shore told the disciples where to cast their net.

Once again the net filled to bursting.

When Peter realized it was Jesus, he threw himself into the water and swam to shore.

Waiting for him was a charcoal fire, the same kind of fire where he had denied his Lord.

Jesus asked him a question three times.

Do you love me?

Three times Peter answered yes.

Three times Jesus told him to feed his sheep.

One denial was healed for every one he had spoken.

The Leader

The frightened man by the fire became a different person.

On Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter stood before a crowd in Jerusalem and preached Christ crucified and risen.

The Acts of the Apostles says about three thousand people were baptized that day.

He healed a man who had been lame from birth at the gate of the Temple.

He was arrested, beaten and thrown in prison, and he kept preaching anyway.

He welcomed the first Gentile convert, the Roman centurion Cornelius, into the Church.

He took a leading role at the council in Jerusalem that settled whether Gentile believers had to follow the full Jewish law.

Rome

Ancient Christian tradition holds that Peter eventually came to Rome, the heart of the empire.

There he led the Christian community, and Catholics honor him as the first bishop of Rome and the first pope.

During the persecution under Emperor Nero, in the mid-60s, Peter was arrested and executed.

Early Christian writers record that he was crucified.

A tradition reported by the ancient Church holds that he asked to be crucified upside down, because he felt unworthy to die the same way as his Lord.

He was buried on the Vatican Hill.

Centuries later, the great basilica that bears his name rose over that spot.

Excavations beneath the basilica in the twentieth century uncovered an ancient tomb and memorial that the Church identifies as his.

Why Peter Gives Us Hope

Jesus could have chosen someone polished and steady to lead his Church.

He chose Peter.

He chose the man who sank, who argued, who fell asleep and who denied him.

Peter's greatness was not that he never failed.

It was that he let himself be forgiven and kept following.

His feast is celebrated with St. Paul on June 29.

If you have ever let God down and wondered whether he could still use you, Peter's life gives you the answer.

He can.

Your turn: Which moment in St. Peter's life speaks most to your own walk with God? Tell us in the comments below.

Photo by Fabio Fistarol on Unsplash