Since it falls on Sunday, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul takes precedence over what would have been the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. This provides an opportunity for us to reflect upon the two most dynamic saints of the early Church.
It would be hard for us to find two more different individuals. As best as we can tell, Peter was a common worker, a fisherman, a man with no formal education, possibly even illiterate. He responded to Jesus’ call to follow him, only to stumble his way through the Lord’s public life, and beyond. Peter recognized that Jesus was the Messiah and professed his faith to the Lord, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
He had faith enough to walk on water to meet Jesus on the Sea of Galilee, but when he thought about what he was doing, he focused on himself instead of on Jesus and began to drown. That’s why Jesus chided him as one of little faith.
At the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, to point out that just as he would humble himself to serve others, they should do the same. When Jesus got to him, Peter said, “You will not wash my feet.” Jesus replied, “Then, you will have no part of me.” Peter then said, “In that case, Lord, wash my feet, my head, hands and body.” I can imagine Jesus saying, “Cool it, Peter,” as he proceeded to wash Peter’s feet.
Later in the meal Peter boasted that he would never lose faith in Jesus and Jesus predicted that before the cock crowed, that Peter would deny him three times. And as we know, Peter denied knowing the Lord three times after Jesus was arrested.
But Peter also reaffirmed his faith in Jesus three times after the resurrection. The Resurrected Jesus asked him, “Do you love me, Simon Peter?” And three times, Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” And each time, Jesus instructed him,
“Then feed my sheep.”
Peter assumed the leadership of the other disciples conferred on him by the Lord, but he was dressed down by Paul when he started treating Jewish Christians as being better than those who had been gentiles. Peter was so very human. Even after Pentecost, he still could let his humanity get the worst of him.
Nonetheless, Peter was determined to spread the faith. He traveled to Rome, the center of the world then, where he became the first bishop of Rome. Because Jesus placed Peter over all the other disciples, those who succeed him as Bishop of Rome also receive his spirit, his grace, his charism. The successor of Peter is the Pope because the Pope is the Bishop of Rome.
Paul could not have differed more than Peter if he tried. An educated man, he studied at the feet of the great Hebrew scholar Gamaliel. Physically, Paul was a small man. His name was changed from Saul of Tarsus to Paul as a bit of a joke. Paul or Paulus means small in Latin. He was small, but he was a dynamo. He was one of those Pharisees who did everything possible to destroy the followers of Jesus. He was present when the first martyr, Stephen, was stoned to death. He went on raids, arresting Christians wherever he could find them, turning them into the Jewish authorities who would imprison or kill them.
One day Jesus called Paul as he was traveling to Damascus. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” The blinding light knocked him to the ground. Paul certainly was knocked for a loop when the vision of the Lord told him that instead of serving God, he was fighting the will of the Almighty. After his conversion, Paul was equally determined to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, traveling throughout the Roman Empire, writing Letters to the infant churches, and ultimately sacrificing his life for the Kingdom of God.
We celebrate the lives of two very different saints, one a large and ignorant fisherman, the other a small and educated scholar, yet very similar saints in that they were both determined to live and die for the Kingdom of God even if this meant making radical changes and sacrifices in their lives, which they both did.
There is some Peter and some Paul in each one of us. We all harbor some of their inadequacies. Each of us also enjoys some of their strength. On the negative side, all of us tend to bungle through life much like Peter did, making great promises, taking great oaths, and then backing down when the situation becomes too tough or too demanding. How many times have we all, myself included, compromised standing for the Lord in order to avoid being mocked by others? Sometimes we go through life like the firestorm that was Saul of Tarsus, convinced that our view of the world is correct, thus willing to destroy anyone who disagrees with us, only to realize, as Paul did after his conversion, that “Nothing is greater than love.”
Many of the good qualities found in Peter and Paul can be found in each of us. Serious about our Christianity, we all have summoned from within ourselves the muscle of Peter and intellect of Paul to serve Jesus in whatever way he calls us.
When we set our minds to living for the Lord, as Peter and Paul did, others will hear his presence calling to them from within us. That is how the Kingdom of God has spread from Peter’s fishing nets and Paul’s Hebrew studies to Rome and beyond. It is the Holy Spirit, the dynamic presence of God, within you and me that continues to make the Church a living reality in the world.
Keep the faith. Live the faith. Share the faith. Such is the legacy both Peter and Paul leave to us. Such is the legacy we, the baptized, must pass on to future generations.