St. Mary's Church Elizabeth, IL

6/28

St. Peter and St. Paul

Tomorrow, June 29, we celebrate the lives of two men in the history of the Church, who in their love for Christ became particularly important in the life of the early Church and in spreading of the Gospel:  Peter, the leader of the Twelve, and Paul the apostle of the Gentiles.  Two different personalities, two different lives and most of all, two entirely different vocations who shared their love for Christ with the world.

There is no historical evidence that St. Peter was Rome's first bishop or that he was martyred in Rome (according to the tradition he was crucified upside down during the persecution of Christians in the mid-60ties of the first century).  By the end of the the 1st century his presence in the imperial capital was recognized by Christian leaders, and the city was accorded a place of honor, perhaps of its claim to the graves of both, St. Peter and St. Paul.  In 1939 a discovery was made under the altar of the basilica dedicated to him, of what was believed to be St. Peter's bones, and in 1965 pope Paul VI confirmed them as such.

Celebrating this feast, we celebrate the leadership of the Bishop of Rome and the authority given to Peter.  Jesus gave him "the keys of the kingdom of heaven," the power to "bind or losse," becoming the rock upon which Christ would build his Church.  Peter is recognized as the person that unites and leads the Church, and that is an important role of every pope elected to lead the Catholic Church.

Paul, on the other hand, is the one who would carry the teaching of Christ to the distant, non-Jewish communites; to the Churches he himself established in different parts of the Roman Empire.

Both, Peter and Paul were so different, that it is amazing how important roles they played in the Church.  Peter had, most likely, very little formal learning.  He was a fisherman, short-tempered, very emotional and impulsive.  He loved the Lord, betrayed, wept and repented.  And he received from the Lord the commission to lead the early Church.

Paul came from Tarsus, a city that was home to philosopers.  He studied under the best rabbinical teachers (Acts 22:3); fluent in Hebrew and Greek.  Paul was a Pharisee and a Rabbi.  He was a complex character, not completely free from mental anguish (2Corinthias 12:7).  Ruthless in pursuit of an ideal (Acts 26:9); often sounding rather neurotic yet capable of sublime thoughts which he would express and use in his work (1Corinthias 12:31-13:13).  Christ took his fanaticism and turned it into service of his Church.

Both, Peter and Paul had one thing in common: they both loved the Lord.

Fr. Joachim