Chapter IX. The Primacy Of Peter. 109 assigned; to Peter the entire fold; for, never did Jesus say to any other Apostle or Bishop what He said to Peter: Feed My whole flock. Candid reader, do you not profess to be a member of Christ's flock? Yes, you answer. Do you take your spiritual food from [102] Peter and his successor, and do you hear the voice of Peter, or have you wandered into the fold of strangers who spurn Peter's voice? Ponder well this momentous question. For if Peter is authorized to feed the lambs of Christ's flock, the lambs should hear Peter's voice. Exercise of the Primacy. In the Acts of the Apostles, which contain almost the only Scripture narrative that exists of the Apostles subsequent to our Lord's ascension, St. Peter appears before us, like Saul among the tribes, standing head and shoulders over his brethren by the prominent part he takes in every ministerial duty. The first twelve chapters of the Acts are devoted to Peter and to some of the other Apostles, the remaining chapters being chiefly occupied with the labors of the Apostles of the Gentiles. In that brief historical fragment, as well as in the Gospels, the name of Peter is everywhere pre-eminent. Peter's name always stands first in the list of the Apostles, while Judas Iscariot is invariably mentioned last.159 Peter is even called by St. Matthew the first Apostle. Now Peter was first neither in age nor in priority of election, his elder brother Andrew having been chosen before him. The meaning, therefore, of the expression must be that Peter was first not only in rank and honor, but also in authority. Peter is the first Apostle who performed a miracle.160 He is the first to address the Jews in Jerusalem while his Apostolic brethren stand respectfully around him, upon which occasion he 159 Matt. x. 2; Mark iii. 16; Luke vi. 14; Acts i. 14.