The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29)
Readings: Acts of the Apostles 12:1-12 2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18 Matthew 16:13-19
On this feast the Church honors the apostles Peter and Paul, who were strengthened by the risen Christ to bear witness to the gospel, even to the point of shedding their blood in martyrdom. Let us learn to share in their faith as we sing the refrain of the responsorial psalm: “The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him” (Ps 34).
In the Acts reading, an angel of the Lord rescues Peter from prison in an episode that is analogous to God’s power in raising Jesus after his trial and passion in the gospel. Like Herod Antipas who beheaded John (Lk 9:7-9) and sought to kill Jesus in Galilee (Lk 13:31-33), Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great (Lk 1:5), persecutes members of the Church and has James, the brother of John, killed by the sword. Seeing that this is pleasing to the Jews, he proceeds to arrest and imprison Peter during the feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, the same time that Jesus’ arrest, passion and resurrection took place (Luke 22-24). Before recounting Peter’s miraculous escape, Luke juxtaposes Herod’s plans to suppress the gospel with the Church’s fervent prayer in Peter’s behalf.
He (Herod) intended to bring him (Peter) before the people
after Passover. Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer
by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf.
Peter’s rescue from the heavily guarded prison is God’s response to the Church’s prayer; earthly powers cannot thwart the spread of the gospel which must reach the ends of the earth (cf. the whole of Acts).
In the account of the miracle, Peter is quite passive, again to highlight the power of the resurrection in defeating the forces that would oppose it. He is in a dreamlike state throughout as the angel, bathed in light, instructs him to get up, and, after the chains have fallen from his wrists, to put on his belt, sandals, and cloak, and follow him pass the guards and through the iron gate leading out to the city. Only when the angel has left him, does Peter exclaim: “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.”
In the reading from Second Timothy the Pauline author gives us Paul’s last testament to his beloved disciple, and it too proclaims the Lord’s power to strengthen his apostles, even in the face of the ultimate test of martyrdom. Paul is in prison, being poured out like a sacrificial libation, as his departure from this life is at hand. Using a favorite metaphor of the athlete who has completed a competition and is awaiting his laurel crown, Paul is confident of God’s reward for his faithful service.
I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which
the Lord, just judge, will award to me on that day . . .
But the author’s purpose in writing to Timothy is to strengthen his disciple, so he adds, “and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.” The concluding section is a doxology stressing that Paul has not triumphed by his own resources, like some Stoic philosopher, but through the power of the Lord who “stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be complete and all the Gentiles might hear it.” Paul prays that “glory” be given to the Lord, who will rescue him from every evil threat and bring him safely to his heavenly kingdom.
Matthew’s account of Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” at Caesarea Philippi also proclaims God’s saving presence with his apostles and the church, who must bear witness against the forces of evil. In Jesus’ blessing of Simon son of Jonah, which is unique to Matthew’s gospel, he announces that the apostle’s confession was not through “flesh and blood,” but on the basis of a revelation from his heavenly Father. Jesus then goes on to solemnly proclaim that Simon is Peter, “rock” (petros), the foundation stone of his Church which will be protected so that “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
Let us celebrate this feast in the spirit of praise and joy to God for giving us faith in the risen Christ through the testimony of his apostles, and let us ask the Lord to keep us true to their teachings.
Readings: Acts of the Apostles 12:1-12 2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18 Matthew 16:13-19
On this feast the Church honors the apostles Peter and Paul, who were strengthened by the risen Christ to bear witness to the gospel, even to the point of shedding their blood in martyrdom. Let us learn to share in their faith as we sing the refrain of the responsorial psalm: “The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him” (Ps 34).
In the Acts reading, an angel of the Lord rescues Peter from prison in an episode that is analogous to God’s power in raising Jesus after his trial and passion in the gospel. Like Herod Antipas who beheaded John (Lk 9:7-9) and sought to kill Jesus in Galilee (Lk 13:31-33), Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great (Lk 1:5), persecutes members of the Church and has James, the brother of John, killed by the sword. Seeing that this is pleasing to the Jews, he proceeds to arrest and imprison Peter during the feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, the same time that Jesus’ arrest, passion and resurrection took place (Luke 22-24). Before recounting Peter’s miraculous escape, Luke juxtaposes Herod’s plans to suppress the gospel with the Church’s fervent prayer in Peter’s behalf.
He (Herod) intended to bring him (Peter) before the people
after Passover. Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer
by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf.
Peter’s rescue from the heavily guarded prison is God’s response to the Church’s prayer; earthly powers cannot thwart the spread of the gospel which must reach the ends of the earth (cf. the whole of Acts).
In the account of the miracle, Peter is quite passive, again to highlight the power of the resurrection in defeating the forces that would oppose it. He is in a dreamlike state throughout as the angel, bathed in light, instructs him to get up, and, after the chains have fallen from his wrists, to put on his belt, sandals, and cloak, and follow him pass the guards and through the iron gate leading out to the city. Only when the angel has left him, does Peter exclaim: “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.”
In the reading from Second Timothy the Pauline author gives us Paul’s last testament to his beloved disciple, and it too proclaims the Lord’s power to strengthen his apostles, even in the face of the ultimate test of martyrdom. Paul is in prison, being poured out like a sacrificial libation, as his departure from this life is at hand. Using a favorite metaphor of the athlete who has completed a competition and is awaiting his laurel crown, Paul is confident of God’s reward for his faithful service.
I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which
the Lord, just judge, will award to me on that day . . .
But the author’s purpose in writing to Timothy is to strengthen his disciple, so he adds, “and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.” The concluding section is a doxology stressing that Paul has not triumphed by his own resources, like some Stoic philosopher, but through the power of the Lord who “stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be complete and all the Gentiles might hear it.” Paul prays that “glory” be given to the Lord, who will rescue him from every evil threat and bring him safely to his heavenly kingdom.
Matthew’s account of Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” at Caesarea Philippi also proclaims God’s saving presence with his apostles and the church, who must bear witness against the forces of evil. In Jesus’ blessing of Simon son of Jonah, which is unique to Matthew’s gospel, he announces that the apostle’s confession was not through “flesh and blood,” but on the basis of a revelation from his heavenly Father. Jesus then goes on to solemnly proclaim that Simon is Peter, “rock” (petros), the foundation stone of his Church which will be protected so that “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
Let us celebrate this feast in the spirit of praise and joy to God for giving us faith in the risen Christ through the testimony of his apostles, and let us ask the Lord to keep us true to their teachings.
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