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The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (A)
29 June 08


 

Today we are celebrating the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, of whom the Preface notes, “Peter, our leader in the faith, and Paul, its fearless preacher.”  This feast commemorates the martyrdom at Rome of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul of Tarsus, observed on June 29. The celebration is of ancient origin, the date selected being either the anniversary of their death or of the translation of their relics.  This is the day of the Roman Catholic liturgical year on which those newly-created metropolitan archbishops who have been named in the previous church year receive the primary symbol of their office, the pallium, from the Pope.

Yes, Peter is “our leader in the faith,” the apostle to whom Jesus said, “…you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”  And yes, Paul is “its fearless preacher” who brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.

This is the stuff of heroes, to be sure.  These two “super-Apostles” faced difficulties of every kind and of whom Pope John Paul II wrote, “But, far from deterring their missionary activity, these difficulties reinforced their zeal for the Church’s welfare and the salvation of mankind.”  How did Saints Peter and Paul prevail against all of those difficulties?  According to Pope John Paul II, “They were able to overcome every trial because their trust was not based on human resources but on the grace of the Lord, who delivers his friends from every evil and saves them for his kingdom.”  As if those achievements were sufficient, Saints Peter and Paul also were martyrs who, as today’s Entrance Antiphon noted, “conquering all human frailty, shed their blood and helped the Church to grow.  By sharing the cup of the Lord’s suffering, they became friends of God.”

As we celebrate the memory of these two super-Apostles—their zeal for the Church’s welfare and the salvation of mankind, their courage in facing difficulties of every kind, and their reliance upon God—they teach us, who seek to live as Jesus’ disciples, the pathway all of us are called to walk.  Baptized and confirmed—and whether as a spouse, parent or grandparent, whether young or old, whether single, religious sister, brother or priest—we are to remain faithful to the Lord.  Fidelity requires that we be zealous for the Church’s welfare and the salvation of others, courageous in facing difficulties of every kind, and reliant upon God as we face difficulties, trials and, ultimately, death.  Celebrating the memory of Saints Peter and Paul—who showed us the way by their words and actions—should encourage us and stir up within us the hope that what each of them achieved through their fidelity to the Risen Lord will also be ours as we remain faithful.

I am suspicious, however.  I don’t believe that today’s celebration stirs up a whole lot of encouragement or hope within many of us.  Some of this has to do with the fact that this feast is primarily a Roman celebration, a holiday for residents and workers in the Vatican and not so for us.  But, much of this has to do, I believe, with the standard Saints Peter and Paul have set and against which many of us measure ourselves.  Judging ourselves against those two super-Apostles, I am pretty certain almost all of us have fallen far short (and I include myself in this group).  Focusing upon our shortcomings, failures, and yes, our sins, we know that we quite likely will never quite measure up to that standard.

Anyone of us who entertains these or other similar thoughts in our minds, however, is very, very wrong!  Why?  We’re evaluating ourselves against the standard set by the end of their stories.  We’re neglecting the very important beginning and middle of their stories.

Let’s take St. Peter first.  Here’s a disciple who professed his love for Jesus, not one time but three times to the extreme that Peter boasted full of prideful arrogance, “I will never deny you, Lord.”  Yet, Peter did exactly that!  Not one time, but three times.

Now, let’s consider St. Paul.  Here’s a pious and devout Jew who, by his own admission, took great pride in rounding up Jesus’ disciples and having them put to death.  Paul jeered and mocked from the sidelines as Stephen, the first Christian deacon, was stoned to death.  Paul also participated in night-time, door-to-door raids and arrested Christians wherever he could find them.  Paul would then turn those Christians in to the Jewish and Roman authorities who would imprison or have them killed.

It would be hard to find two individuals who were more different.  Peter was a common worker, a fisherman, with no formal education.  Paul could not have differed more from Peter if he tried.  Paul was educated, a Pharisee—a scholar of the law—who had studied at the feet of the great Hebrew scholar, Gamaliel.  But, Peter and Paul were also similar.  On the one hand, what we have is someone who calls himself a “friend,” but who turns around and betrays his friend three times.  On the other hand, what we have is a radical antagonist who had Jesus’ disciples put to death.  This is hardly the stuff of saints!  Sinners are what they both were.  Yet, that is the beginning of their stories as super-Apostles.

That is how we are like Saints Peter and Paul.  The beginning of their stories is the beginning of our stories.  We also make big promises.  We boast.  And, sometimes we seek the destruction of those who oppose us.  In short, we also have sinned.

The middle of the stories of these two super-Apostles differ somewhat.

For Peter, the middle of his story begins on that very first day of the week in that Upper Room where the disciples were hiding for fear of the Jews when the Risen Lord suddenly and unexpectedly broke through the doors which had been barred shut.  All of the disciples—and Peter, in particular—now had to face their friend and teacher, the one they had denied and abandoned to be crucified only three days earlier.  I can only imagine what thoughts were racing through Peter’s mind and what Peter expected the Risen Lord to say.  Perhaps it was a demand along these lines: “Explain yourself, Peter.  Why did you betray me?”  However, imagine how Peter’s heart alighted that Easter Sunday when the Risen Lord said “Peace be with you.”  Expecting condemnation for being a traitor, Peter received forgiveness instead.  More than that, the Risen Lord later said, “…you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church….”  The traitor ends up being the one to whom the Risen Lord entrusts his entire earthly mission!

For Paul, the middle of his story begins as he journeyed to Damascus when, as medieval artists portrayed the scene, Paul was knocked off of his high horse and rendered blind when, during a vision, the Risen Lord told Paul that instead of serving God, Paul was battling against God.  “Saul, Saul,” the Risen Lord asked, “why do you persecute me?”  The man who was convinced he possessed the infallible truth was rendered incapable of knowing where to turn.  Yet, through the love the Christian community of Damascus extended to their enemy, Paul became its staunchest defender, preaching the gospel to the known ends of the earth.

For both Peter and Paul the middle of their stories begins as their conversion from sin becomes the moment from which each boldly proclaimed the gospel, despite all the difficulties Peter and Paul had to face.

Take, for example, today’s first reading, which related how Peter was arrested and put into prison on the feast of Unleavened Bread just after James, the brother of John had been killed by the sword.  Presumably, the same fate was awaiting Peter the next morning.  Yet, an angel of the Lord came to Peter in the middle of the night and miraculously set Peter free.  Looking back at those miraculous events, Peter said, “I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me….”  Then, in today’s epistle, Paul described how the Risen Lord stood by him and gave Paul strength so that through Paul the proclamation of the gospel might be completed and all Gentiles might hear it.  Yet, there was great opposition as Paul preached the gospel.  “I was rescued from the lion’s mouth,” St. Paul wrote, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.”

Once again, this is how we are like Saints Peter and Paul.  The middle of their stories is the middle of our stories.  We must persist in fulfilling the mission the Risen Lord had entrusted to each of us.  We must be determined against the forces arrayed against us.  “Pouring myself like a libation.”  “Fighting the good fight.”  “Finishing the race.”  “Keeping the faith.”  All of that is our challenge, too.

For Peter and Paul, that’s where the middle of their stories end and the closing chapter of their stories begins.

Concerning how the two super-Apostles died, we know with certainty that Peter was crucified, probably in 64 a.d.  According to ancient texts, Peter’s wife was executed with him and he saw her led to punishment.  One legend, accepted since the third century, says that Peter requested to be crucified with his head pointed downward towards the earth because, in death, Peter did not wish to be made the equal of Jesus.  Peter knew who he was and his history.  Because St. Paul was an honestior—a Roman citizen—Paul chose to be beheaded, likely during Nero’s reign as Roman Emperor.  St. Paul’s death has been dated to 64 a.d., when Rome was devastated by a fire set by Nero but which Nero blamed upon the Christians.  However, Paul could have been martyred a couple of years later, in 67 a.d.

Two very different saints, one an uneducated fisherman, the other an educated scholar, yet two very similar saints in that they shared the determination to live and die for the gospel even when this required making radical changes in their lives to the point of sacrificing their lives.

Their stories are our stories.  All of us are inadequate in some way or another.  Like St. Peter, we bungle through life.  We make great promises, take great oaths, and then we back down when the chips are called in and demands are made.  How many times have we all, myself included, compromised our faith so that we aren’t mocked by the crowd?  Like St. Paul, we sometimes we rip through life convinced we are infallibly correct and will do anything in our power to silence anyone who disagrees with us.  Lest, we forget, all of us are also strong in some way or another.  Like Saints Peter and Paul, we have received the Risen Lord’s gift of forgiveness and reconciliation and we are serious about our faith.  We possess the muscle of Peter, the “fisher of men,” and the mind of Paul, the “first Christian polemicist,” to proclaim the gospel wherever the Risen Lord places us.

However, the end of their stories differs from the end of our stories.  Having turned from sin, Peter and Paul witnessed to the Gospel to the end of their lives, earning for each the martyr’s crown.  Having turned from sin, our time for witnessing to the Gospel is yet not complete.   Only one question remains to be answered.  That question is: Will the love of the Risen Lord that filled the hearts of Saints Peter and Paul continue to express itself through us until the end of our lives?  The answer to this question will complete our stories.

As we celebrate the memory of these two super-Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, let us see in their lives the stuff of our lives and be filled with encouragement and hope because the end of our stories has yet to be written.

 

 

 

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