Biographical Information about Saints Peter and Paul[1]
Readings for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary: (Today I borrow the commentary from Fr. Tom Welbers at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Berkley, California)
Reading 1 Acts 12:1-11
The liberation of Peter from prison echoes many events of Jewish history (the deliverance of Joseph, Gn 39:21-41:57; the three young men, Dn 3; and Daniel, Dn 6) that consciously reflect the paschal liberation (Ex 12:42). Peter now undergoes the same trial and deliverance as his Master and in his own person becomes a sign of God’s deliverance of his people.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.
This psalm, in the words of one being unjustly persecuted, echoes hope for deliverance and freedom. Response: "The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him."
Reading II 2 Tm 4:6-8, 17-18
Paul is writing from prison at the end of his life. The only deliverance he can expect is death, and he confidently proclaims that it is the greatest deliverance of all. The death of the Christian who has lived and worked in union with the death of Christ through baptism is true release to freedom and glory.
Gospel Mt 16:13-19
This passage is often used as a proof text for the primacy of the Pope. It may well be that, but to stop there is to set aside rich insight into our own participation in the mission of the Church. The "power of the keys" is rightly understood as referring to the authority of Peter and his successors in the ministry of leading and unifying the Church, but it also provides us with an image of the mission of the whole Church, ourselves included. The Church is the doorway to God’s kingdom. Each of us as a member of the Church has the power to unlock that doorway — to welcome all we meet, by our spirit of love and forgiveness, into association with us in the kingdom. But we can also close the door of the kingdom to others, excluding them by our attitudes of superiority, prejudice, selfishness, or negligence. As Christians, we have the power to open or to lock the door of God’s kingdom. By our own words and actions we cannot help but exercise this power — one way or the other.
Reflection:
Today we celebrate two Apostles, one who traveled with Jesus and was the leader of the disciples during the life of Jesus on earth, the other a persecutor of the disciples until he himself was chosen by the Lord as an instrument. Two very different backgrounds but called together for a common purpose, building the kingdom of God on earth.
How different were their calls to that single purpose. Peter, Simon the fisherman who left his profession to follow Jesus, called almost it seemed by accident as his brother, who was a disciple of John the Baptist, told him one day “We have found the Messiah”. From that day until the terrible night in the courtyard outside the house of Caiaphas when he denied the Lord, he was a frequently reluctant student. We hear the Lord, in today’s Gospel, take that flawed student, now renamed and recreated through the Holy Spirit, and give him the keys to the Kingdom and establish him as our first Vicar of Christ.
Paul (Saul), on the other hand, was a traditional Jew, brought up and educated to become a member of the Sanhedrin. We first encounter him as he approves of the stoning of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. Was he unwittingly promoting the faith even then? His zeal for Hebrew orthodoxy made him the perfect instrument of the Temple in Jerusalem. He was sent to eliminate these “Christians” who flaunted their authority by saying the Messiah had already come.
They sent Paul to Damascus, but a funny thing happened on that road. The Lord, from his home at the right hand of the Father, reached down and snatched Saul, now Paul from the hands of the Temple leadership and created his own tool to take God’s word to the world. Paul’s oratory training would be put to good use as he first challenged the Jews in Antioch and then all round the region, debating the pagan Greeks and Romans and establishing churches throughout the region. Christ took this flawed and sinful man, filled with hate for God’s children, and turned him into a force that lovingly invited the world to come to Christ.
Our celebration today is of St. Peter, first Pontiff of the Church and St. Paul, the great Evangelist. Even more, today we celebrate the Church looking in and reaching out. We thank God for taking unlikely instruments and making them forces that shook the world. In our awe, we ask him to take our humble efforts and continue their noble work.
Pax
[1] The engraving today is of “St. Peter and Paul” by Diego de Astor, 1608
[2] After Links Expire
Readings for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary: (Today I borrow the commentary from Fr. Tom Welbers at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Berkley, California)
Reading 1 Acts 12:1-11
The liberation of Peter from prison echoes many events of Jewish history (the deliverance of Joseph, Gn 39:21-41:57; the three young men, Dn 3; and Daniel, Dn 6) that consciously reflect the paschal liberation (Ex 12:42). Peter now undergoes the same trial and deliverance as his Master and in his own person becomes a sign of God’s deliverance of his people.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.
This psalm, in the words of one being unjustly persecuted, echoes hope for deliverance and freedom. Response: "The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him."
Reading II 2 Tm 4:6-8, 17-18
Paul is writing from prison at the end of his life. The only deliverance he can expect is death, and he confidently proclaims that it is the greatest deliverance of all. The death of the Christian who has lived and worked in union with the death of Christ through baptism is true release to freedom and glory.
Gospel Mt 16:13-19
This passage is often used as a proof text for the primacy of the Pope. It may well be that, but to stop there is to set aside rich insight into our own participation in the mission of the Church. The "power of the keys" is rightly understood as referring to the authority of Peter and his successors in the ministry of leading and unifying the Church, but it also provides us with an image of the mission of the whole Church, ourselves included. The Church is the doorway to God’s kingdom. Each of us as a member of the Church has the power to unlock that doorway — to welcome all we meet, by our spirit of love and forgiveness, into association with us in the kingdom. But we can also close the door of the kingdom to others, excluding them by our attitudes of superiority, prejudice, selfishness, or negligence. As Christians, we have the power to open or to lock the door of God’s kingdom. By our own words and actions we cannot help but exercise this power — one way or the other.
Reflection:
Today we celebrate two Apostles, one who traveled with Jesus and was the leader of the disciples during the life of Jesus on earth, the other a persecutor of the disciples until he himself was chosen by the Lord as an instrument. Two very different backgrounds but called together for a common purpose, building the kingdom of God on earth.
How different were their calls to that single purpose. Peter, Simon the fisherman who left his profession to follow Jesus, called almost it seemed by accident as his brother, who was a disciple of John the Baptist, told him one day “We have found the Messiah”. From that day until the terrible night in the courtyard outside the house of Caiaphas when he denied the Lord, he was a frequently reluctant student. We hear the Lord, in today’s Gospel, take that flawed student, now renamed and recreated through the Holy Spirit, and give him the keys to the Kingdom and establish him as our first Vicar of Christ.
Paul (Saul), on the other hand, was a traditional Jew, brought up and educated to become a member of the Sanhedrin. We first encounter him as he approves of the stoning of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. Was he unwittingly promoting the faith even then? His zeal for Hebrew orthodoxy made him the perfect instrument of the Temple in Jerusalem. He was sent to eliminate these “Christians” who flaunted their authority by saying the Messiah had already come.
They sent Paul to Damascus, but a funny thing happened on that road. The Lord, from his home at the right hand of the Father, reached down and snatched Saul, now Paul from the hands of the Temple leadership and created his own tool to take God’s word to the world. Paul’s oratory training would be put to good use as he first challenged the Jews in Antioch and then all round the region, debating the pagan Greeks and Romans and establishing churches throughout the region. Christ took this flawed and sinful man, filled with hate for God’s children, and turned him into a force that lovingly invited the world to come to Christ.
Our celebration today is of St. Peter, first Pontiff of the Church and St. Paul, the great Evangelist. Even more, today we celebrate the Church looking in and reaching out. We thank God for taking unlikely instruments and making them forces that shook the world. In our awe, we ask him to take our humble efforts and continue their noble work.
Pax
[1] The engraving today is of “St. Peter and Paul” by Diego de Astor, 1608
[2] After Links Expire
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