Jun-29 Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul

 June 29: Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul

Today June 29th, we celebrate the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul, a day made holy for us by their exemplary life of courage and testimony. Apart from Mother Mary, St Joseph and St John the Baptist, these two saints are the only humans commemorated in the Catholic calendar with a day given the rank of ‘Solemnity’.


Peter (or Cephas, older brother of the apostle Andrew and son of John/Jonas) was a simple fisherman by trade and the first apostle to be named (Mark 1:16-18). We can relate to his sense of doubt (Matthew 14:31), denial (Mark 15:53-72) and weakness (Mark 14:32-42) even as we admire his passionate devotion to Christ (Mark 14:29). He was the first one to recognise Christ as the Messiah, prompting Jesus to christen him Peter, 'the rock on which I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the rock on which (Matthew 16:16-19).


Paul, by contrast, did not know Christ in the flesh. He was born in Tarsus (modern-day Syria) into a strict Jewish family of Pharisees; therefore, he knew Jewish scripture and laws (Philippians 3:5), but as a Roman citizen, he made a career of persecuting the early Christians (Galatians 1:13–14). Until he had his 'Road to Damascus' encounter with Christ, which left him blinded for three days (Acts 9:3–9); as instructed, he met with Ananias (Acts 9:13–19) and his conversion to being a true disciple of Christ was complete.


Did they meet in real life? Probably. By some accounts, on three occasions. The most notable though is their third meeting in Antioch, where Paul publicly confronts Peter's practice of refusing to eat with Gentiles to appease the early Jewish converts (Galatians 2:13) and Paul prevails with his message that Christ has come for all peoples, Jews and Gentiles alike; and Christ's teaching supersedes Jewish laws (Galatians 5:1) 


In a sermon in the year 395, St. Augustine of Hippo said of Sts. Peter and Paul: “Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered and were martyred on different days, they were as one”. 


Peter, the rock on which the Church was built, was crucified upside down at his behest in the year 69, and Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, being a Roman citizen, was beheaded (not crucified) a few years later.  


Let us embrace what they believed, their life of evangelising, their tireless labour of spreading the Gospel, their innumerable sufferings and hardships, their breathless testimony and preaching, and their confession of faith.


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