Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul ......Year A

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Acts, 12,1-11; 2 Tim 4,6-8.17-18; Matt 18,13-19: Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul Year A)

      

     The church this Sunday celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, two great apostles and martyrs of the Church. The solemnity is so important that it supersedes  the usual Sunday celebration (the weekly Easter), which in effect is the celebration of the paschal mystery, the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, on closer look, the Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul shows how the effect of the paschal mystery was effective in the lives of these two saints, how they were able to carry on the of mission of Christ, in spite of their weaknesses and limitations as human beings. St. Peter had so many faults. Even though, he confessed Jesus as the Messiah, immediately after his confession, he did not want Jesus to  fulfill the demands of the Messiahship. He later denied Jesus three times.  Paul he had his own troubles. He kept on reminding every one of his weakness: he knew what he ought to do but he kept on doing the opposite; he had a thorn in his flesh, which God absolutely refused to take away. Inspite of all these weaknesses and failures in their lives, God used them in spreading the message that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, whom God sent into the world to redeem mankind.  

            In Today’s gospel, we see the endowment which God made to Peter. He inspired him to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. After several answers to the question Jesus asked his disciples, whom people thought he was and also who they (the disciples) thought he was, Simon Peter answered: You are Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter’s answer goes beyond what the people thought he was. Jesus was not only a prophet, he was and also the greatest of them all. Nevertheless, he was  the Messiah, the king sent into the world to bring salvation to Israel and become light and of the nations. The oracle of Nathan indicated that the Messiah would be a descendant of David, and also noted that the Messiah would be a Son to God. Jesus showed himself as the Son of God in various ways: in his prayers, teachings, and kindness. In the gospel reading, seeing that Peter’s response was not from human calculation but God’s inspiration, Jesus said Peter: Simon, son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. Jesus is affirming that Peter’s response of faith is a revelation of God the Father. For no matter how exalted human reason is, it cannot produce an iota of faith. Faith is a gift of God and very profound. In Peter’s, he was able to perceive the divinity and messiahship of Christ hidden in the human form, similar to any other. It was on account of his faith that Christ choose him to be the rock on which he would build his church: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. Jesus further bestowed on Peter an extraordinary mission, authority, privilege and exaltation when he told Peter: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven: whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven. 

            This mission of Peter was to be accomplished under difficulties and through sufferings. The first reading already indicates what awaited Peter. He was arrested by king Herod, condemned to death, and awaited trial under close watch and tight security. If the wish of the Jewish people that Peter should be executed was eventually carried out, the mission to spread the salvation wrought by Christ would have come to nothing. But the Church was at prayer; she held vigil for Peter. God was not asleep either. He sent his angel to Peter’s aid, who miraculously released him from the prison to continue the mission entrusted to him by Christ. But we know that was not all. Peter had to face death through martyrdom in Rome. 

            The second reading gives us insight on Paul’s life, towards the end of Paul’s life.  But we know how it all began as he journeyed to Damascus to arrest Christians there and to drag them to Jerusalem. The Lord met him on the way and indicated that Paul would be an instrument of propagating his mission of salvation to the utmost ends of the world. Paul in this passage of the second reading is thankful to God for standing by him and for giving him power to proclaim the message of the gospel for all the pagans to hear. Paul did proclaim the message of the gospel by words of mouth as we can be attested in his missionary journeys as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. He also spread the gospel message through writings as can be seen in his numerous letters in the New Testament. This was also how he helped the message of Christ to spread to all parts of the world. In making the gospel spread, he was not spared suffering of all kinds. He  equally died a martyr in Rome. 

            These two apostles and martyrs were singled and sent out to spread the gospel message. They were privileged. And so are we. Through our baptism we are also apostles who are to further spread the message of salvation. Let us therefore, start doing so in our immediate environments: in our families, zones, stations, parishes, offices, and anywhere we may find ourselves. Let us do so through our actions, faith and love rather than by words or mere profession that we are Christians, the followers of Jesus who is the Messiah and the Son of God.  

 +John I. Okoye

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