Two Pillars of the Catholic Church
Homily for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul
Today would have been the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time if it didn’t also happen to be June 29th. Instead, we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul which falls on this date every year. Peter was a Jewish fisherman who plied his trade on the Sea of Galilee, a body of water that lies in the northern part of Israel. Paul, on the other hand, was a well-educated Pharisee who had studied both under Jewish rabbis as well as Hellenistic philosophers. Peter seems to have suffered from “foot in mouth” syndrome. Paul, on the other hand, is known for his well thought out letters which comprise a great part of the Christian Scriptures or New Testament. Sts. Peter and Paul were two very different people with different backgrounds, faith journeys and ways of evangelizing. Today, Pope Leo said. They were at odds over "the proper way to deal with Gentile converts" and would debate the issue. And yet, they were brothers in the Holy Spirit, and they both shared "a single fate, that of martyrdom, which united them definitively to Christ." However, there is one episode in their lives that they both experienced in their lifetimes. Both of them saw Jesus after the resurrection. These stories changed their lives forever.
St. Paul was met by Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was on his way to that city to carry out the arrest of men and women who were followers of Jesus of Nazareth. He had been commissioned by the high priest, probably Caiaphas, to seek out and forcibly bring them back to Jerusalem to stand trial before the Sanhedrin. It’s a fascinating moment—Saul, armed with authority from the religious elite, sets out to persecute Christians, only to be completely transformed on that very road when he meets Jesus as a great light knocks him to the ground. Jesus asked him a question: “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He had been blinded by the light so he answers the question by asking one of his own. “Who are you, sir?” The vision responds: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” After his experience, his sight was restored to him by Ananias who then baptized him.
While he started preaching right away, his formal missionary journeys and broader ministry began several years later after a time of growth, reflection, and divine instruction. In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul relates that he did not seek instruction from the apostles but spent three years in coming to understand his faith in Jesus Christ. His real preaching and work among the Gentiles began when Barnabas asked him to accompany him to Antioch. He spent the rest of his life going from one community to another instructing them in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Peter, on the other hand saw Jesus on the very day he rose from the dead and several times afterwards. The Gospel of St. Luke tells of a personal encounter that Peter had which was followed by a second experience with the apostles and disciples gathered in the Upper Room. Then, at the shore of the Lake of Galilee, Jesus questioned Peter three times about whether Peter loved him. After each question, Peter was told to feed or tend the sheep of his flock. Today, Pope Leo will confer a pallium, a strip of lambs’ wool that lies on the shoulders of Archbishops, a symbol of this meeting between Jesus and Peter.
There is also a legend. Perhaps it is a fanciful story. However, in this legend, Peter decides to flee Rome at the outbreak of Nero’s persecution of the Christian community because the leaders of the community convinced him that he would be killed if he remained in Rome. As he left Rome, it is reported that he was met by Jesus who was walking toward Rome. Peter asked him: “Where are you going, Lord?” Jesus answered him: “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.” He then disappeared, and Peter decided to return to Rome where he was crucified at the base of the Vatican Hill of Rome.
Both Peter’s and Paul’s lives were changed when they met Jesus on the road. Their experience of Jesus changed their lives. They have gone on to become the two great pillars of the Catholic Church. Both of them broke with Jewish convention and preached to the Gentiles. Both of them spent their lives preaching the Gospel of Jesus. Both of them were martyred for the faith. Their influence continues to this day. All of St. Paul’s letters, which appear in the Christian Scriptures, were written before the Gospels were written. It was St. Paul who taught us that our faith in Jesus has justified us. This teaching appears in the Gospels multiple times, for in the Gospels Jesus is quoted as saying “Your faith has saved you,” to many of those who were miraculously healed by him.
These two men will always be remembered for their faith in Jesus and for their preaching until they both died for the faith. Two splendid basilicas were built in Rome and dedicated to their names. St. Peter’s Basilica, built on the Vatican Hill of Rome, is considered the most famous church in Christendom and is the home of the Pope and the Papal Curia. St. Paul’s Basilica stands outside the ancient walls of Rome and is famous for its depiction of all 267 men who have been the Bishop of Rome.
Their lives changed when they met Jesus after the Resurrection. However, St. John quoted Jesus as having said, “Blessed those who have not seen and yet believed.” So even though we live thousands of years after the life of Jesus, we are all mentioned in the Gospel of St. John because we are the ones who have believed without seeing him. Let our faith in Jesus change your life as you receive him the Eucharist today, for we are privileged to receive his very body and blood, soul and divinity.
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