After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” (Matthew 26:73)

Great & Holy Saturday
April 11, 2026

The Eve of another Pascha finds our family in eager expectation again for the Feast of Feasts. It has been a tremendous Holy Week with perhaps the last time all seven of us will be able to celebrate most of the services together (not less than 16 that have stretched from last Friday all the way into this coming Tuesday morning). I am now putting my thoughts together for a post on Pascha.

The reading that caught my attention this year is the portion from St. Matthew’s Gospel about St. Peter’s denial of the Lord. These bystanders, these inconsequential servants recognize Peter and call him out as a disciple. One of the times, they put the case even further by claiming his Galilean accent betrays him. I found this curious for two reasons: 1) What it meant to be a Galilean fisherman in a cosmopolitan city like Jerusalem and 2) What it meant for chatty, uppity servants (and even maidens) to talk above their station to a disciple of a prominent rabbi.

First, what kind of introspection the apostle must have been conducting at this time: perhaps second-guessing so many commitments made, perhaps wondering why he had wandered so far from home for this rabbi that turned out to be such trouble and a disappointment. And now these city slicker servants are trying to out him just by the way he talks? Of course, he denied knowing the Lord because of fear for suffering a similar fate. But might it also have been some hurt local pride? I mean what do these maidens know about growing up in Galilee?

For the part of the servants, this calling out must have involved a little of the imposter syndrome. As if to say to this fisherman, “Hey, you’re not from around these here parts. I know you want to hide what you are for fear/pride, but it has come too far for you. Every part of you screams “Jesus disciple” right down to your hick accent.” Peter despite his greatest protests could not hide his true identity.

And the rest of his story proves this out. In his repentance, he witnesses the resurrection and reconciles his country bumpkin origins in order to be transformed by the Risen Lord into not only a shepherd of the Church but a universal Apostle. His story reminds those who feel out of place that God sees a vision for us beyond our present feelings of inadequacy. May He who rose from the dead transform us into disciples unafraid and aware of our true identity in Him.

Christ is risen! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Христос Воскресе!
Truly, Truly, He is risen!