The Feast of Sts Peter and Paul

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the culmination of our Apostles’ Fast and the commemoration of the Chiefs of the Apostles, Sts Peter and Paul.

These two men stand before us as testimonies to the transforming grace of God.

Apostle Peter was a simple fisherman, relatively uneducated, and possessed a child-like temperament of impetuousness, impatience, and enthusiasm. Apostle Paul was a highly respected, well-educated Pharisee, whose temperament was bridled by discipline and sophistication, yet driven forward by zeal.

And God was able to take these raw materials and turn them into disciples and Apostles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Through the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit, Apostle Peter became a wise and dynamic preacher… his inherent innocence and enthusiasm matured into a kind of purity of heart which drew many to Christ. This simple fisherman truly became, as Christ had said he would, a fisher of men – reaching out to countless numbers and drawing them in to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Likewise, that transforming grace of God took the great and learned Pharisee, Saul, who was actively persecuting the Church of Christ – and turned him into Paul, perhaps the most zealous and successful missionary of the first years of the Christian Church.

God takes the beauty of each person’s uniqueness and is able to nurture that distinctiveness into the fulness of all that He intends for us. Whether we are quiet or bold, whether we are tongue-tied or eloquent, whatever the diversity of our talents might be, if we will have the humility to be shaped by our Lord into the fulness of what we might become, Christ will shine forth in our lives and, through us, into the lives of others.

And there is another reason why the Apostles Peter and Paul are held before us as examples. Both of these men set before us a scandal in their sinfulness.

Apostle Peter, who had hours before sat at the table with Christ receiving the first Mystical Supper of His Body and Blood, when feeling threatened during Christ’s trials, denied even knowing Who He is.

And Apostle Paul, as we mentioned earlier, was a notorious persecutor of the Church… standing in watchful approval of the martyrdom of the earliest confessors for Christ.

Why would these two men be held as such idealistic examples for us?

It is because, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in them we can see and relate to the darkness of fear, self-righteousness, and sin… and we see in their deep repentance the seeds of their spiritual transformation.

It is said of the Apostle Peter that, after his betrayal and the crowing of the cock at dawn as the Lord had predicted, he went about the rest of his days weeping every morning when the cock crowed. Apostle Peter went on to great spiritual activity – even raising the dead – but he never forgot his sin and the debt of gratitude he owed to Christ for forgiving him and granting him his new life in Christ.

It is the same for the Apostle Paul… blinded by the Light of Christ on his way to Damascus, he was humbled and completely transformed his zeal for persecution into zeal for spreading the Gospel message of Christ.

Apostles Peter and Paul are placed before us on this day – and throughout all the days – as examples not only for what they accomplished for Christ and His Church, but also for the depth and the sincerity of their repentance.        

May we have their good examples before us, to inspire us toward a deep and thorough repentance and toward a complete and determined commitment to do all that we can for Christ Who has done everything for us.