Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul. The general rule – even with Marian celebrations – is that a feast is moved to another weekday if it falls on a Sunday. But the importance of this feast is such that not only is it celebrated as a Solemnity, but it is also celebrated as an immovable feast. No one needs to impress upon us the significance of these two men, who were apostles in their own right. There is no doubt that without them, the history of the Catholic Church would have been written differently. In fact, the New Testament canon of Scripture would be different without them.
Allow me, in my three points, to reflect more deeply upon their life and death. I will also draw practical implications for us from this feast.
Their Calling
Peter and Paul were called in very different ways. One was a humble fisherman, called along the seashore; the other, by no means humble, was called on his way to Damascus. One awaited the Messiah; the other worked to destroy the Messianic legacy. One had the most basic education; the other was an erudite rabbi. One became an itinerant follower; the other had no lived experience with Christ. One denied Christ three times; the other persecuted and killed his followers. One appealed to the Jewish-Christians; the other became an apostle to the Gentiles. Peter and Paul could not have been more different, but one thing united them: the person of Jesus Christ.
When we look at people like Mary, John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul, we think of them as stalwarts of the faith. In comparison, perhaps we find our lives and our callings insignificant. I am guilty of this myself. But our call is not any less important than theirs; rather, it is oriented toward the particular work, faith, and mission entrusted to each of us. Our call may be different, but its significance is the same.
Their Mission
Both Peter’s and Paul’s callings defined their missions. To Peter, Jesus said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. 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” (Mt 16:18–19). About his mission, Paul said, “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” (2 Tim 4:17). Between Peter and Paul, they brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Jews and Gentiles throughout the Roman world.
Peter and Paul carried out their respective missions amidst great hardship. Paul was beaten with rods, stoned, and lashed. On his frequent journeys, he faced dangers from rivers, from robbers, from Jewish-Christians, from Gentiles, from the ravages of weather, and from false Christians. He endured shipwrecks, toil and hardship, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, foodlessness, and exposure to cold (2 Cor 11:25–27). Finally, Paul spent the last two years of his life under house arrest in Rome. But at the end of it all, he was able to say, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7).
Peter too lived out his mission amidst immense struggles, especially challenges to the leadership entrusted to him by Christ himself.
Our paths and life journeys are clearly different from those of Peter and Paul. But none of us are without a call or a mission. We have a lifetime to discern our calling, to fulfill our mission, and to live it out as priests, religious, single persons, married persons, parents, children – young or old. The hope is that, at the end of our lives, despite our struggles, we too can say, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
Their Life and Death
The Church’s tradition teaches that both Peter and Paul died as martyrs in Rome during the persecution under Nero in A.D. 64. According to tradition, Paul was granted the right, as a Roman citizen, to be beheaded by the sword. Peter, however, suffered the fate of his Lord – crucifixion – and tradition holds that he asked to be crucified upside down. They lived and died for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Life has meaning when we have something for which we are willing to live – and even to die – something bigger than ourselves. People live and die for their countries; people live and die for their families. Some people live for money, and some die for money. Others live for fame and die for fame. People live and die for all kinds of things.
I asked myself this question this week: What am I willing to live for? And what am I living to die for? For me, it is the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed – the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ reign is a reign of faith, love, mercy, justice, peace, nonviolence, generosity, gentleness, patience, and goodwill. In this reign, there is forgiveness for the sinner, hope for the hopeless, compassion for the poor, justice for the oppressed, peace for the restless, and dignity for every human person – especially the most vulnerable.
I cannot celebrate the Eucharist with you and then go out and live contrary to the Gospel in selfishness, hatred, intolerance, injustice, oppression, cruelty, and prejudice. The Gospel impels me to stand with the sinner, the poor, the hungry, the homeless immigrant, the ill-treated refugee, the unborn, the children, and the most vulnerable in our society. I will always stand for and with the meek, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. If there is something I will live and die for, it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Life has meaning when we have something for which we are willing to live – and even to die – something bigger than ourselves. Peter and Paul were martyred for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our call as Catholics and our mission as believers in Jesus Christ compel us to ask: What am I willing to live for? What am I willing to die for?
Let us bring our lives to this altar. Like Peter and Paul, may our lives be fashioned by the life and death of the One we celebrate on this altar – Jesus Christ. Amen.
Image: “Saints Peter and Paul” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by Thomas Hawk
Fr. Satish Joseph was ordained in India in 1994 and incardinated into the archdiocese of Cincinnati in 2008. He has a Masters in Communication and Doctorate in Theology from the University of Dayton. He is presently Pastor at Immaculate Conception and St. Helen parishes in Dayton, OH. He is also the founder Ite Missa Est ministries (www.itemissaest.org) and uses social media extensively for evangelization. He is also the founder of MercyPets (www.mercypets.org) — a charitable fund that invites pet-owners to donate a percent of their pet expenses to alleviate child hunger. MercyPets is active in four countries since its founding in December 2017. Apart from serving at the two parishes, he facilitates retreats, seminars and parish missions.
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