[HOMÉLIE] Peter and Paul, two very cheesy saints

On this Saturday, the solemn feast of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul allows us to deploy the liturgy like a Sunday: Glory, I believe and four Bible readings. This is the second time this week after the solemnity of the nativity of Saint John the Baptist. On these days of celebration, the liturgy of the Church spreads even more into souls divine grace, the lights of Heaven, the blessings that the Good Lord wants to grant us very largely.

Two men with their backgrounds

But why does the Church solemnize the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul? Because these two men played a primordial role in the spread of the Good News, each in his own way, each according to his charism! The Lord Jesus wanted to rely on men to spread the Gospel after his return to his Father: the apostles, the disciples and then, after them, those who would be touched by the message. Among them, Saint Peter holds a special place: he is the head of the small nascent Church, an authority that he received directly from Jesus. The phrase still adorns the interior face of the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome: “You are Peter and on this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” And then there is Saint Paul who has this special status of having been chosen directly by the Lord through a vision, which will earn him to be considered a full member of the college of apostles even if he never walked alongside Jesus during his life on earth. Two men with their journey, their history, their qualities and their faults. We will come back to this in a moment.

The columns of the Church

Another aspect to emphasize: both died for Christ: they are martyrs, that is, they offered their lives, like Jesus, Saint Peter crucified upside down in the Vatican Circus, and Saint Paul, decapitated with a sword blow, because of his Roman citizenship which spared him the ignominious death by crucifixion. This is why the Church gives a place of honor to these two men in the liturgical calendar and invites us to celebrate them solemnly and to have recourse to their prayer: their courage, their fidelity are an example for us, a model to follow!

Let us ask these two saints, who are ultimately so human, to help us also choose Christ and to choose Him forever.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul are nicknamed “the two columns of the Church”. Historically, theologically, they each accomplished their mission, played their role. They obeyed the Lord’s command: “Go, teach all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28:19). This is why on Saint Peter’s Square, but also in the interior courtyard of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, pilgrims and tourists can admire the statues of these two great apostles who seem to respond to each other. And if you pay close attention, you will notice that this is also the case in many of our churches: Saint Peter, on one side, with his round beard and keys in his hand and, on the other side, facing – opposite, Saint Paul with his bald head, his long pointed Pharisee beard and his large sharp sword.

With their qualities and their defects

And yet… yes, they are beautiful, imposing, worthy of respect, but we know very well that they were not always the models they became. Simon Peter, the so sure of himself, big mouthed fisherman who allows himself to scold Jesus himself… but who will flee pitifully after having injured one of the servants of the high priest in the garden of olives and who will return all sheepish when the Lord appears on the shores of the lake of Galilee. And Saul of Tarsus, the fanatic, obsessed Pharisee, who will accuse himself of having thrown the disciples of the Way into prison and persecuted them to the point of bloodshed. And with that an impossible character, to the point that all his traveling companions will end up leaving him. In short, men… with their qualities and their faults. No better but no worse than the others… even if they are still both quite “cheesy”, each in his own field. Well! The first was explicitly designated as the head of the Church and is considered the first pope, and the other is the apostle of the pagans, the gentiles, the non-Jews, probably one of the most effective evangelists and at the same time the one who would have established, institutionalized the nascent Church. Not bad for two useless men, right? In fact, both were converted, in the sense that they chose Christ and they did not deviate from there… to the point of giving all of themselves in martyrdom.

Christ’s choice

Today, let us ask these two saints, who are ultimately so human, to help us too choose Christ and to choose Him forever, to love Him, to serve Him and to proclaim His most holy name. It is not certain that the Catholics of the next century will represent us in stained glass, in statues and give our name to churches, but if choosing Christ is aiming for holiness, then let us go there cheerfully, with all our hearts !