Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul

          As you may have noticed, most feast days of saints get skipped during the years when the day lands on a Sunday.  As a result, we don't often get to hear too much about saints on Sunday Masses with just a few exceptions.  Today is one of those exceptions as we celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. 

          Now, I personally enjoy learning about the lives of saints.  I love studying a little bit about what their lives might have been like and the history of the times in which they lived and I find it very interesting to study their writings that still exist.  However, sometimes I can feel a bit overwhelmed as I read about them.  I don't know if anyone else has had this feeling or noticed this, but it seems like some saints were so holy from the beginning of their lives that it's near impossible for any of us to reach them.  I feel like some days it takes all my energy and will power to take even a few minutes for personal prayer.  St. Therese of Lisieux from the 19^th Century said it best when she wrote, “When reading the lives of the saints, I was puzzled at seeing how Our Lord was pleased to caress certain ones … with such favors that they were unable to soil the immaculate beauty of their baptismal robe”.  Sts. Peter and Paul, I believe, are not examples of this.  When we look at what we know about their lives from Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition we can see that they were ordinary people like us: imperfect and prone to mistakes.  Despite these imperfections, God called them to be shepherd who laid down their lives for their sheep.  Perhaps by studying their lives we will better see how God is calling us, even with our own mistakes and shortcomings. 

Oops, forgot to post this sooner.  Here is my homily from last weekend.  The readings for the Saturday Vigil or different than those for Sunday, so the link will take you to both sets of readings.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062914.cfm

 

         St. Peter is often referred to as the “Prince of the Apostles”.  He was by far the most outspoken of the Twelve and a clear leader among them.  Jesus even named him as our first Pope.  One might expect that such an important religious leader would be a scholar who was well versed in theology and had studied it since childhood.  As we all know, however, St. Peter was a simple fisherman from Galilee: hardly the perfect candidate to be a great religious leader.  Yet that was who God chose to be that leader.

          As I said before, St. Peter was very outspoken, a trait that earned him praise for his faith, but also criticism for his lack of faith at other times.  In the Gospel of Matthew we hear about Peter's confession of who Jesus is.  Jesus and the Twelve are at a city called Caesarea Philippi.  This city was next to a large cliff into which was carved a temple dedicated to several Greek gods.  Under this cliff was a deep spring which eventually feeds into the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.  No one knew how deep the spring was, so it was nicknamed, “The Gates of the Netherworld”.  Jesus asks the Twelve, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"  They answer with prophets, Elijah, or John the Baptist.  Jesus replies with a second question, “But who do you say that I am?”  Here, Peter responds with a very faith filled answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus praises him and tells him:  “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” 

          Jesus goes on to tell him, “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  When Israel was its own kingdom, the king would name a man as his steward who would take care of the palace and the city of Jerusalem while the king was away.  This man was the second in command.  By giving Peter the keys to the kingdom, Jesus, as king of Heaven and Earth, was making Peter His steward.  Understand that this is a big move since Rome was in charge and Israel had no real king. 

          So Peter shows his faith in this instance, but we see in other places how little he understood what was going on.  Later on he rebukes Jesus for saying He will die on the cross, but Jesus responds by rebuking Peter: “Get behind me Satan!”  Peter doesn't yet understand that the passion must happen.  We also know the famous story of how Peter denies knowing Jesus three times.  In the Gospel of John, after Jesus' resurrection, the Savior asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”  Peter responds each time with, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  This is followed by various versions of the command to “Feed my sheep”.  Peter denies Christ three times, but reaffirms his faith three times to make up for it.  It is his faith, not his doubt, that stands out today.  St. Peter died by being crucified upside down; not feeling worthy of being crucified exactly like Jesus.

          St. Paul was also very outspoken.  He wasn't perfect either.  The Acts of the Apostles tells us that he worked very hard to arrest any Christians that he encountered.  He didn't do this to go against God's wishes, but rather he thought he was doing the will of God by following a strict observance of the Jewish faith.  His conversion story is a great example of how God can change our hearts and minds to His will.  He is known today as the Apostle of the Gentiles, because he was very instrumental in bringing the Gospels to the Non-Jewish peoples. 

          Because he had been such an ardent opponent of Christianity, St. Paul had a lot of convincing to do so that his fellow Christians knew he was truly Christian.  In his Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul takes a moment to explain where he is coming from and why they should listen to him.  He explains that the Gospel he preaches is not of human origin, but comes from Jesus Christ.  Paul wasn't taught this Gospel, but it was given to him through a revelation of Christ.  He didn't make it up.  Furthermore, the Apostle explains that his conversion to Christianity wasn't a fluke or something he made up to get into their good graces.  He says, “You heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism” but when God called him, he didn't seek other people.  In other words, he is again affirming that he received all his information from God.  He ends this reading with the instruction, “As to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.”

          St. Paul needed to show that his conversion was complete and that he had a lot to offer as an Apostle.  He also needed to show that he wasn't doing this for his own pleasure, but that he was ready to give his life for the Gospel as Christ did.  In his Second Letter to Timothy, he writes, “I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.”  He is explaining to Timothy, a young bishop, how he sees that his death will be coming soon, but that he knows that God is with him and has helped him run the race well.  He is ready for death.  According to tradition, St. Paul was beheaded in Rome, a few years after St. Peter.

          Sts. Peter and Paul were not perfect.  They had to go through their own conversions to get ready for their work.  But when God finally called, they were ready to lay down their lives for the sheep of Christ's flock.  May their example inspire us to continue in the faith.