Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the two chief architects and builders the church that Christ founded. Although they share the same feast day, they were different in almost every other way. Peter was an unschooled Galilean fisherman chosen by Christ to be the head of the Church. Judging by his record from the gospels he seems a surprising choice on the Lord’s part. Peter could be impetuous. At the very time Jesus needed Peter’s support most, -the night of Jesus’ trial- Peter let him down. In his unmistakable Galilean accent, Peter denied, three times, ever knowing Jesus. But then, his unreliability was matched by his humility and self -knowledge, which enabled him to repent almost immediately afterwards. In some ways his weaknesses became his strengths. He knew he needed God. After denying knowing Jesus Peter went outside the trial room and wept bitterly. Mt 26,51; Lk 22,62; Mk 14,72. This kind of honesty and humility had potential as we shall see later.
Paul was a different type altogether. He was a proud well-educated Jew, taught by the rabbis. He belonged to the elite tribe of Benjamin and was proud of his Roman citizenship. He grasped things clearly and didn’t suffer fools gladly. Christians were high on Paul’s list of undesirables. Hence his successful campaign to harass, imprison and be rid of them.
Then it all changed after his encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9, 1-25; 22, 6-16; 26,12-18. This proud intolerant man came to realize that his orthodoxy and intolerance which drove him to persecute Christians was ill-founded and alien to the love and wisdom of the crucified risen Christ who was indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life. Paul’s outlook, his love, his energy, his intelligence, his person, his life, his soul, his attitude received a new direction and a new focus, a total transformation through encountering the glorified risen Christ on the road to Damascus.
After spending some time in the Arabian desert in reflection and prayer he came to realize with amazing clarity that all the worth a person has comes not from externals like race, place, or privilege, but from “ God, in whom we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17,28.
Paul’s wisdom, theology and spiritually is summarized beautifully in Philippians 4, 4-7. I know people who have learned these verses off by heart and made them their personal Christian mantra. Please read them, and even better, try to learn and live them.
Peter and Paul were two men for whom meeting Christ was a totally transforming experience.
They are our fathers in the faith and both would agree that the best way to express our gratitude for their service of and wit ness to the faith would be imitate their example and witness to the faith in our lives wherever we are.
Fr Geoff O’Grady