Feast of St Peter and Paul 29 June 2025
We can consider Peter and Paul at the personal level, and also for what they symbolise.
At the personal level we see that both men had transforming experiences. Peter probably would have been happy to end his days as a fisherman and would not have expected to go down in history in such a famous role.
But he was called to greatness, and with some hesitation, fulfilled his destiny.
Many identify with Peter as a person who speaks before he thinks, yet who has an admirable warmth and sincerity. Peter needed his honesty and directness harnessed for a higher cause.
Paul had great zeal for the things of God. But he had the wrong belief. He did not believe that Jesus was the one to be following. He saw the new Christian religion as a heresy, to be stamped out.
But as soon as he met the Risen Lord he accepted correction humbly. Then, without missing a beat, he applied the same zeal in the right cause.
Both men convey a quickness to grasp an ideal and immediately apply it.
They had passionate natures, enabling them to keep to the difficult course which lay before them.
It is good to be passionate when the cause is right. Passionate means we are convinced of the right cause and confident that the necessary help will be there.
So we believe in Jesus Christ, convinced that He is the true Messiah, Son of God. To whom else can we go ( Jn 6,68)
If we give Him our allegiance, we will be open to receive any call or command and have the necessary grace to carry out the task.
At Mass, among other things, we are here for repairs, to be made ready for whatever may come.
This much we learn from Sts Peter and Paul at the human level.
At the more symbolic level: Peter, we could say, represents the fixed nature of the Church and Paul the mobile.
What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? The Church needs to be both these things.
Immovable, insofar as we possess the core truth. We stand as a house of rock which will not fall over no matter how strongly the winds of adversity blow.
Immovable object? We cannot change the basic teaching we have received from the Lord, and passed down to us. We can change our behaviour (for the better) and we agree we should do that, but not the teachings, the sacraments, or the mission. The Church is like a rock, not obstructing but enabling, giving security. Stand on the rock of Peter and we know we have the true faith.
Irresistible force: is represented by Paul, the great evangeliser and missionary. He understood that the Gospel is meant for the whole world, all nations.
The Gospel can be resisted for a time, but eventually prevails. My word does not return to Me empty (Is 55,11). The Gospel is truth and charity, bringing healing to all who are open to receive it.
Importantly, St Paul understood that the Church was the new Israel, no longer confined to the Jewish people, but meant for the whole world. There is no racial discrimination in the Church. And the Jews are not excluded. Paul, himself a Jew, understood this very clearly.
(cf Romans, chapters 9-11)
Why does the Church canonise certain people and not others? The canonised ones took it to the limit; they pursued the logic of the Gospel, that demands personal commitment, and expands outwards. Those who believe and live on that belief are likely to stand out as worthy of imitation The two passionate men we honour today are certainly worthy of that.
Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us.
