“Peter denied Jesus three times!” is popular among Protestants. So is “Jesus told Peter ‘Get thee behind me, Satan!'” Professional Protestants enjoy pointing out that “Peter was married.” Why? Thinking “Peter is no better than me!” lets them avoid “Thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia: “Simon settled in Capharnaum, where he was living with his mother-in-law in his own house (Matthew 8:14; Luke 4:38) at the beginning of Christ’s public ministry. Simon was thus married, and, according to Clement of Alexandria, had children. The same writer relates the tradition that Peter’s wife suffered martyrdom. He was a fisherman with his own boat.”
Matthew 8: 14-15 “Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.”
Why was Peter’s mother-in-law sick? “My daughter and grandchildren are being abandoned by their husband and father! Peter is going off to follow Jesus! Peter is abandoning his business! Peter is leaving his family with no visible means of support! Peter is leaving town! How can we keep the house? How will we pay our taxes? Would the children be sold into slavery?” No wonder the woman was lying in bed with a fever!
The loving mother and grandmother was driven to desperation by the inevitable collapse of her family. One of Jesus’ greatest miracles was to relieve her desperate anxiety so fully by a mere touch that the fever left her and she got up to wait on He Whom she had blamed for destroying her family!
It is likely that the Miracle was in answer to Peter’s desperate request: “Master, please do something!” In a way, Peter’s mother-in-law was among the first to receive Catholic Communion, healed by Jesus’ Body.
