Saints Peter and Paul

“(Jesus) 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.”  (Mt. 16:15-16)

            Why are saints so important to us Catholics?   We learn the answer during our preparation for Confirmation… because their lives are stories of God’s love.  Saints reveal God’s presence in the world; personify God’s love for us and exemplify how ordinary people, like you and me, can respond to that love in extraordinary ways.  Saints, in short, like Jesus himself, are role models of our faith.

            There are more than ten thousand on the list of officially recognized Roman Catholic saints.  There is a saint and a prayer for every day of the year and all occasions.  Patron saints are believed to have influence over certain situations because of some special circumstances of their lives.  My patron saint, St. Anthony of Padua, for example, is patron saint of lost objects and St. Jude – patron saint of impossible causes.   Together they make one powerful combination.  If you lose something, first, you pray to St. Anthony, and if he doesn’t come across in a timely fashion, then, you pray to St. Jude. My mother had a special devotion to St. Anthony, which is why she named me after him.  As a child, I knew when St. Anthony hadn’t answered her prayer yet….his statue would be turned to face the wall!

            Each church year during ordinary time (green vestments, except for today when they’re red), we Catholics celebrate Masses honoring the apostles.  A specific day is set aside for each of the eleven apostles, as well as the apostle Paul.  (For obvious reasons, Judas didn’t make the cut).  Today June 29th, we honor -- Saints Peter and Paul.

            Both were luminaries of the early church; Peter, chief among the apostles who, according to tradition, was first pope; and Paul, its most influential theologian and missionary. The second reading from 2nd Timothy is part of Paul’s farewell discourse in which he looks back on his career in ministry (“I have finished the race”) and looks forward to his eternal reward (“the crown of righteousness”).  It was his work in founding churches outside Judea that more than anything helped propagate the faith throughout the Mediterranean world.

Next to Jesus, Paul is the most prominent person in the New Testament.  Of its  twenty-seven books, the thirteen letters attributed to him, written between 50 and 68 A.D., dominate the New Testament canon and provide the earliest interpretation of Jesus and the Jesus movement.  They also provide a wealth of information about the early days of Christianity. More than half of Acts is devoted to Paul’s conversion and his activities in spreading the Good News.  As “apostle to the gentiles,” Paul was the driving force behind Christianity’s becoming a world religion, rather than merely a sect within Judaism.

 Of the original twelve apostles, Peter was considered greatest.  It was to him that Jesus granted authority over the faithful, the “keys of the kingdom.”  And, as related in today’s gospel from Matthew, it was he who first recognized Jesus as Messiah.  A respected elder in the Church of Jerusalem, Peter preached a sermon at Pentecost that inspired thousands to convert to Christ.  Both Peter and Paul died heroically as martyrs in Rome (hence Fr. Mike’s and my red vestments…signifying the blood of martyrs), but not everything they did was as heroic as their deaths.

            Recall, after all, that Peter “the rock” upon whom Jesus would build his church abandoned Jesus on Good Friday, denying him three times.   Peter, moreover, is portrayed in several scripture passages as being incredibly dense, not to mention impetuous.  And let’s not forget that following the Crucifixion, he and most of the other disciples fled Jerusalem in fear for their lives. 

 And what about Saul who became Paul, the greatest proselytizer of the faith?  He too could easily have been on the “Least Likely to be Called by God” list of his day.  Peter, as related in the first reading from Acts, was imprisoned in Rome because of guys like Paul, who started out his career as a zealous persecutor of the early church. (As an aside, at the magnificent Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls in Rome, where he’s buried, there’s a statue of him in the front courtyard brandishing a sword.  St. Peter, of course, has his own basilica in Rome where’s he’s buried, which isn’t too shabby either!)  Moreover, according to Acts, Paul stood by as the first martyr, Stephen, also the first deacon, was stoned to death.  (As a further aside, that’s why we deacons to this day are leery about hanging out in stone quarries!)

            Each liturgical year, the church sets aside a day to honor Sts. Peter and Paul, two early disciples who wholeheartedly committed their lives to living the faith.  Neither started out as likely candidates for sainthood.  Peter, a simple fisherman, and Paul, a tentmaker, two seemingly unremarkable people with plenty of character flaws were, nonetheless, able to accomplish remarkable deeds because they were open to God’s call.  

Despite their flaws, Jesus chose them.  Despite our flaws, Jesus chooses us.  In the divine scheme of things, your see, availability is more important than capability; choice trumps talent.  Here’s where you and I can resonate with Peter and Paul and the rest of the ten thousands officially recognized saints. And, just as importantly, here’s where you and I can resonate with the billions more, people like my mother, who never made the official list. 

Anthony J. Sciolino
Acts 12:1-11
Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18
Matthew 16:13-19.
Feast of Peter and Paul. 
June 29, 2008 (Cycle A)