Homily for the Evening Mass on the Feast of St Peter and St Paul
Readings for Year A: Acts 12:1-11l Psalm 33; II Timothy 4:6-18; Matthew 16:13-19
After Mary, the two saints who usually appear in any list are Peter and Paul. They are two saints who feast is a solemnity everywhere in the world and here in England and Wales a holy day of obligation. That is why it has taken the place of the Sunday this year (if you are watching this in Scotland you may be confused, the calendar is different there). What is it about these two that makes them stand out.
In the Gospel we hear Jesus tell Peter that he is the rock on which he will build his Church. Peter is the apostle we see most in the Gospels. Often, he stands as a representative of the Apostles. Here he speaks for them in acknowledging Jesus as the Christ. However, he often represents them not understanding, lacking faith, even denying Jesus. However, we are told Jesus appears to him particularly after the resurrection and the end of John’s Gospel depicts Jesus call of Peter to feed his sheep. Our first reading shows Peter after Pentecost as the leader of the apostles and, therefore, targeted by Herod. As Catholics we recognise the mission of Peter continued in that of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope as leader of the Church.
Paul is not just the great missionary but, through his letters included in the New Testament, he is the first great theologian. His mission to bring the Gospel to the various peoples of the Mediterranean meant that he had to reflect on the message he was preaching. He brings together what he has received and his own experience in a way which is central to our own understanding of our faith.
Yes, we can see the central place of Peter and Paul in the history of the early Church but what might they say to us today. One thing that comes through from the New Testament is their humanity. They were people like us. As I say we see Peter getting things wrong, Peter promising more than he can deliver. Peter and Paul had their disagreements, something Paul brings out in his letters. Paul is someone who we see getting angry and frustrated with his converts. He is someone who admits his own weakness and comes to recognise that it is precisely in his weakness that God is at work. This gives us courage to accept our own mission, whatever way God may have chosen for us to live out and share the Gospel we have received. Yes, we get things wrong, we get frustrated and disillusioned, we can even find ourselves denying Christ in various ways. However, God is at work in and through our weakness as he was for Peter and Paul.
This leads us on to something we see in each of our readings today. Peter and Paul were able to do what they did because the Holy Spirit was at work with them. We see God’s power in that dramatic scene in the first reading. This is true for us as well. Whatever we are able to do it is because the Holy Spirit is at work with us. We are called to trust in that, especially when things seem difficult. May this time of pandemic is one of those times for many of us.
Finally, they are the foundation of the Church. There is a continuity between the early Christian community they lead and the Church of which we are part. They are the ones on which the New Testament focuses. It is from their teaching that so much of our tradition comes. This feast is a reminder that we are part history and a tradition. We are part of the Church founded by Christ. We are not simply isolated individuals but we are part of the body of Christ which has the apostles for its foundation.
Fr Chris Pedley SJ