Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

Homily for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

When we set Peter and St. Paul side-by-side, it is possible to see certain differences in them as well as certain similarities.

Among the differences, the first thing that comes to mind is their social status. Peter was a fisherman, a laborer, a married man who had to be aware of his responsibility as a husband. Paul, on the other hand, was a well-educated Pharisee, a scholar. He did have a trade by which he sustained himself, but he was not responsible for the well-being of a family. Another difference can be found in their personalities. Peter comes off as being impetuous and a man who is constantly sticking his foot in his mouth – frequently saying the wrong things at the wrong times. He also denies knowing Jesus on the night before his crucifixion. Paul’s personality was quite different in that he gave himself wholeheartedly to any task that was set before him both before and after his conversion to Christ. Yet another difference lies in the way that they were called to be followers of Jesus. Peter was among the first of the disciples to be called as he was plying his trade as a fisherman. Paul, on the other hand, was blinded by a light that spoke to him as he made his way to Damascus where he was going to arrest followers of Jesus.

Among the similarities between these two men, the virtue of humility is certainly present. Peter realized his inadequacy and told Jesus to depart from him because he was a sinful man. Paul came to realize that all of his education was a gift that he had been given to serve the community rather than to seek his own fame and honor. They were also similar in their decision to make Jesus Christ the center of their lives; nothing else mattered to these two disciples. Both men were radically transformed by their encounter with Jesus. Finally, we must admit that their deaths were similar in the fact that they were both victims of the persecution of Nero. They were both passionate in their life of proclaiming the Gospel and were both completely convinced that no one should be excluded from receiving faith and baptism. In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is the first to approach a Gentile family who desires baptism. Paul, on the other hand, devoted his entire life to the conversion of the Gentile people once it became evident that his fellow Jewish followers of the Mosaic law were stubborn in their unwillingness to put their faith in Jesus.

In St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, he reports that he spent fifteen days with Peter during which time he was instructed in the faith directly by Peter. Imagine what those two weeks must’ve been like, how deep their conversations, how loud their discussions, how animated their disagreements. At the same time, because they were both grounded in Jesus Christ, they would have found mutual support in the task of making the Gospel known.

If nothing else is learned from our celebration of this solemnity, the one lesson that I think we can all understand is that individual differences matter nothing when it comes to the task of believing in and proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. Peter is the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. St. Matthew adds the small detail that Peter’s answer also declared him to be the Son of the living God. This statement was made in a Roman Grove that was dedicated to the Roman Pantheon. Caesarea Philippi was an important Roman shrine to the Roman gods and goddesses as well as to the Roman emperors. Surrounded by all of these “dead” gods and goddesses, Peter reminds us that it is Jesus Christ who comes to us from the only living God. St. Paul also expressed his faith in Jesus as Lord in his Letter to the Philippians where he states: God “exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

As we celebrate these two great apostles through this solemn liturgy, we learn the lesson that each of us has been called to the same faith and that each of us is to use our individual gifts as we proclaim the Gospel in our own way, our own time, and with our own personal gifts.