Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson
Our experience is rife with “Top Ten” lists of all kinds. Today our Church asks us to focus instead on the “Top Two” of the “Top Twelve” male saints, namely Peter and Paul. The two men have been linked together for some time, as this feast was established way back in the year 258 A.D.
One of them, Peter, is the greatest Prince of the Apostles and our first pope. The other, Paul, is our greatest Preacher and consequently the Apostle to the Gentiles. So, we celebrate both men. (Of course, Blessed Mary, Our Lady, tops the list of both genders of saints.)
For our appreciation of both men, it is helpful to know that neither one was perfect. Peter had not only argued with Jesus on two occasions, forcing Him to call Peter in one instance as “Satan.” Add to that a bitter denial of Jesus on the very night Jesus most needed Peter’s loyalty.
Paul, on the other hand, had been a dedicated Pharisee persecutor of the early Church. So much so that, as Bishop Sheen once remarked: “If the early Church had a novena, it would have been to ask the Lord to stop Saul. And God answered, ‘All right I shall send Paul!”
We know that Paul was literally knocked to the ground, only to rise later to become our greatest missionary. He suffered all kinds of setbacks for his efforts but never yielded until he had “run the race.” as he himself described it. Both men were martyred in Rome somewhere in the 60s A.D. before the fall of the Temple by Rome in 70 A.D.
The main message of both their lives is that awesome power of God to change sinners into saints. Do we believe that God can do that with us? It seems like all we must do for that to happen is for us to get out of His way and let Him. That means stepping aside from ego, pride and sin.
In closing, consider the kite flyer. He must take in hand the string of his kite and run until the kite lifts into the sky. But he will not reach his goal of flying a kite if there is no wind. Every kite flyer knows this. But note that kites do not rise with the wind but rise against it. So, it is with trials. The Christian will not ascend to patience and maturity unless he ascends against trials. Do trials make you soar above, or just plain sore?
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.
Rev. Peterson’s Reading & Gospel Summary
Reading I: Acts 12: 1-11
Put in jail by Herod the Great’s grandson Agrippa, St. Peter miraculously escapes from a well-guarded jail cell. God answers the early Church’s prayer for him.
Reading II: 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 17-18
St. Paul, knowing his death is imminent, asserts that he has fulfilled his earthly mission as the evangelist to the Gentile nations.
The Gospel: Matthew 16: 13-19
St. Peter is given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, symbols of his authority over the Church. “Bind and loose” refer to the task of the rabbis who were official interpreters of the Law. Here it signifies the forgiveness of sins.