Peter and Paul were VERY different people. Peter was one of the original 12 apostles. Paul, previously known as Saul, was a violent persecutor of the first Christians. At one point in time, these two men could not have been further apart in their behavior and beliefs.
Image by Sammy-Sander
By Steve Leininger
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
First Reading Acts 3:1-10
Responsorial Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5
Second Reading Galatians 1:11-20
Gospel John 21:15-19
Did you notice that we had three readings today? For our reflections, we have been using the Saturday readings from the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops), which generally have two readings.
Today (June 29) is celebrated as the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles. Why are Saints Peter and Paul celebrated together? This feast day honors the martyrdom of the two saints sometime between AD 64 and 68. While the church recognizes that they may not have died on the same day, tradition says that this is the day that they were both martyred in Rome by Emperor Nero.
The day is a solemnity or a feast day of the highest rank. This honor is reserved for only the most important events, like events in the lives of Jesus or Mary. Therefore, it emphasizes how important the two saints are to the Catholic faith. This day is included in the small number of solemnities, with a Vigil mass available the day before using a different set of readings.
Peter and Paul were VERY different people. Peter was one of the original 12 apostles. Paul, previously known as Saul, was a violent persecutor of the first Christians. At one point in time, these two men could not have been further apart in their behavior and beliefs. Saul had a conversion that started on the road to Damascus with an encounter with the spirit of Jesus, who asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” The rest of the details are in Acts 9. Paul became one of the great missionaries for the Church, and his letters make up the bulk of the New Testament and continue to guide the Church today.
There was something about Peter that Jesus saw. Rough though he was, Peter always had the heart to receive the message and the ability to lead others. He was there to “lead my sheep” at the Lord’s request.
Imperfect men, seized by the Word of God and set on fire by the Holy Spirit. They are pillars of our Church and witnesses to freedom in Christ.
A prison escape
Part of our first reading gives the script for a riveting escape sequence:
Herod had Peter taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him before the people after Passover. Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf.
On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell.
He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.”He did so. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.
They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading out to the city, which opened for them by itself. They emerged and made their way down an alley, and suddenly the angel left him. [Acts 12:4-10]
To reinforce the impact of what just happened, we have a responsorial Psalm with the response:
The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him. [Psalm 34:8]
Do you ever marvel at how correct and insightful the Psalms are, written centuries before the birth of Christ? Yeah, me too!
The Herod here is not Herod Antipas who was responsible for the death of John the Baptist or, three years later, the crucifixion of Jesus, but rather Herod Agrippa I. He was a grandson of Herod the Great and nephew of Herod Antipas. It is 44 AD, and Herod had just had James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee, killed by the sword. When he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews
He proceeded to arrest and imprison Peter with plans to have him martyred after Passover. As we just found out, an angel sprung Peter from prison, and he went into a less public part of his life.
A reflection on a life well lived
The Apostle Paul speaks to us in 2 Timothy:
I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.
The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. [2 Timothy. 4:6-8, 17-18]
The phrase that sticks with me is “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” Paul writes this in the last chapter of his last writings, anticipating his imminent martyrdom in Rome, around 67 AD, by the emperor Nero. The tone of his letter is very upbeat, a testament to Paul’s deep conviction and belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ and life in the world to come. It is a bit of a victory lap upon the completion of more than thirty years as an apostle, a “messenger” or “one who is sent,” successfully spreading the good news of Jesus throughout a large portion of the Roman empire.
Keys to the Kingdom
The gospel reading for today highlights an event that is foundational to Christianity.
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 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.” [Matthew 16:13-19]
Notice how it is Peter who speaks up and answers Jesus’s question, “Who am I?” Jesus proclaims that Peter didn’t learn this from a person but could only have had this revealed to him by the heavenly Father.
There is a bit of play on words in renaming Simon to Peter, which means rock. Peter becomes the rock, the foundation if you will, of the Church, which is about to be “built,” not a physical structure, but the living church of Jesus. “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven,” Jesus says to Peter. Oh my! Ponder for a moment what that means. I’ll wait…
Time’s up! Clarifying, Jesus says, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” OK, what does that mean? It seems to me that Peter has been given the knowledge and the responsibility of judgment to express the Father’s will, plus Jesus’s message, and that he has been given the clarity to enforce those rules and principles (the “whatever”) on earth and that is the way they will be in harmony with how things are and will be in heaven.
This occurs during Jesus's third and final year of public ministry, as the number of followers (and detractors) has grown.