Homily: June 29 - Solemnity of Peter and Paul - Steadfast and Tireless

There are not many feasts of the saints that outrank the Sundays of Ordinary Time.  However, today’s solemnity is of such great importance that Catholics around the world honor together these two most important men: Peter, the Galillean fisherman who became prince of the apostles, and Paul, once a persecutor of Christians, who after his conversion took the Gospel of Christ to the ends of the known world.

These two saints have always been coupled together in the devotion of the Christian people. Many scenes from their lives described in the New Testament are etched in our memories: Peter, the fisherman, being promised by the Lord that he would be made a fisher of men; Peter, mustering up faith and courage to walk across the water towards Jesus, only to sink when he began to fear; Peter’s great confession of faith which we heard today, then later his denial of Jesus during his Passion, then running towards the empty tomb when Mary brought them news of the Lord’s resurrection.

so many Christians relate to Peter; for he has these moments of great faith and great enthusiasm, then moments of apparent failure; he reminds us of us, trying to follow the Lord faithfully, sometimes stumbling, sometimes surprising even ourselves.

Yet, perhaps some of us relate to St. Paul as well.  Remember, before his conversion he was persecuting the Church, putting Christians to death.  He led the charge against the Deacon Stephen, the first martyr, and had him stoned to death.  Maybe, like Paul, we were hostile to the Church and her teachings, hostile to Christianity, and then, thanks be to God, we were knocked off our horse, and encountered the Lord Jesus who changed our lives forever. Then again, don’t we reject the Lord every time we sin, and then come to conversion in the Sacrament of reconciliation.

We love them because they remind us of us, yet they are honored because they are heroes of the Christian faith.  Despite their overwhelming hardships, steadfast St. Peter and tireless St. Paul poured out their lives for the spread of the Gospel.  Both men faced tremendous persecution, both were arrested several times; Paul probably spent about 12 years in prison for preaching the Gospel.  Both were imprisoned in the famous Mamertine Prison in Rome, the city of their martyrdoms. 

There is an ancient legend about St. Peter.  He had finally come from Jerusalem to Rome, the seat of the empire around the year 64, about 30 years after Jesus’ death.  Peter, knowing that he was likely to be arrested and killed, nevertheless preached the Gospel and ministered to the small community of Christians there.  When he began to agitate the local Roman authorities, some of the Christians pleaded with him to flee the city in order to save his life.  Peter gave in to their pleading and began to flee the city.  When he got to the city gate, however, he saw the Lord Jesus walking past him into the city.  Falling down in adoration, Peter said to him, “Domine, quo vadis?  Lord, where are you going?”  Jesus replied, “I have come to Rome to be crucified, since you will not.”  Peter, understanding that he should not flee in fear but stand courageously steadfast in faith, returned to his ministry, preaching the Truth of the Gospel.  He was arrested, and like our Lord, Peter was crucified; only he asked that he be crucified upside-down because he felt he was unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord.

Quo Vadis?  Where are you going?  Though Peter asked that question to Our Lord, Our Lord was also asking it to Peter.  “Where are you going Peter, why do you flee the cross?”

Quo Vadis?  That question is asked to each of us. Where are you going? Are you willing to die for the sake of the Gospel?  We flee the cross every time we fail to resist temptation.  We flee the cross when we fail to defend our faith.  We flee the cross when we fail to pray as we ought.  We flee the cross when we fail to comfort the afflicted and reprimand the sinner. 

Paul, too, after tirelessly preaching the Gospel in his missionary journeys was martyred in Rome, slain by the sword; some even claim, on the same day as Peter in AD 67.

I was able to make pilgrimage to Rome a few years ago with parishioners from a previous assignment.  Our very first stop, after the 8 hour flight, was to the Basillica of St. Paul’s outside of the walls of the original city.  There, you are able to kneel and pray at the relics of St. Paul himself.  Here’s a man who braved rapid rivers, steep mountains, and malaria-plagued lowlands; he endured robbers, attempted assassinations, imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom, not for fame, or riches, or pleasure, but for Jesus Christ.  To kneel and pray in front of the remains of one of the greatest men of history, a hero, an exemplar of the Christian life “causes one to question, am I really doing all I can for the Lord?”

Am I sharing the Gospel with everyone I can?  Can I honestly appear before the Lord, as Paul stated in our second reading and say, I have been poured out like a libation for the Gospel?

These men, Peter and Paul, remind us that the Christian life is much more like an adventure than a passive activity, like watching television.  The encounter with Jesus Christ is meant to change us.  Our lives are not meant to look like the rest of the world.  The Christian, like Pope Francis stated recently is meant to shake things up a bit.  The life of charity and evangelization involves real effort, it might involve stirring up and agitating the enemies of the Church, it definitely involves suffering for the kingdom, and might even involve giving that ultimate witness.

Equipped with faith and the word of God and the grace of the sacraments we are meant to be missionaries in our families, parents and children building each other up in faith.  We are meant to be missionaries in our school our work places and civil society, being steadfast and tireless in standing up for the truth.  We are even called to be missionaries here in our parish, to seek out those who have fallen away and those who do not know Christ, to build up unity, combat evil, and spread his light to those in darkness.

A final solemn blessing will be given at the conclusion of Mass asking God to grant us the steadfast faith of Peter and the tirelessness of St. Paul to win souls for Christ.  By their holy example and heavenly intercession, may we be courageous in our faithfulness to Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.