Homily for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

You’re probably aware of the Gospel reading where Our Lord is visiting the

house of Mary and Martha. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to

what he has to say, whilst Martha is distracted with all the serving. And more

than that, she gets annoyed that Mary isn’t helping and asks the Lord to tell her

off. But instead He says that it is Mary who has taken the better part, and it is

not to be taken from her. Sometimes people then ask: are you more of a

Martha or a Mary? Today, instead, we could ask: are you more a Peter or a

Paul? Let’s have a look at them both.

Now, to begin with, Saul, who is later known as Paul, is a late arrival to the

scene. We don’t hear about him until The Acts of the Apostles. He’s not found

in the Gospels, whilst Peter is. Both of them are men of conviction. There’s no

lukewarmness in them at all. Peter is impetuous. He is the one who says at the

Last Supper that he is prepared to die for the Lord, but then goes on to deny

Him. He’s the one who dares to walk across the water, but then begins to be

afraid about what he’s doing and starts to sink. And when the Lord appears

after the Resurrection on the seashore, he’s the one who jumps out of the boat

and swims to the shore, leaving the others to bring the boat with all the fish.

Saul begins life as a Pharisee. He thinks he knows the Scriptures so well as is

so certain of himself that he thinks it’s a righteous thing to go around

persecuting Christians, arresting them and having them put to death. This

heresy has to be stamped out, and I’m going to lead the charge. And he does.

After the martyrdom of St Stephen, of which it says he totally approved, Acts

8:3 says: “Saul then worked for the total destruction of the Church; he went

from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to

prison”. It’s when he’s on the road to Damascus, with the express intention of

going after more Christians, that he is struck down by Christ. The Lord doesn’t

ask him why he is persecuting Christians, or the Church, but why are you

persecuting me. Christ has not abandoned His Church. Christians have not

been left to their own devices. God has not run away and left them to do

whatever they like. The union between Christ and His Church is so strong and

close that he asks Saul: why are you persecuting me? You can imagine how

bewildered and confused and probably humiliated Saul was. He was so sure of

himself! You would have to be, to go about doing what he was up to. There

was no thought of, shall I, shouldn’t I? He was convinced. The Christians

have to go. And he was so wrong.

But now he knows where the truth actually lies, he goes powerfully into action,

spreading the Gospel around the whole of the Roman Empire. He may have

been last on the scene, but he certainly leaves his mark. And he nearly gets

killed quite a few times, before he is finally beheaded.

But St Paul can now be so sure of himself, not only because of his experience

on the road to Damascus, but also because he has the ongoing guidance of the

Lord through the Church. After he arrived in Damascus, he doesn’t then spend

the rest of his life travelling around, unconnected to the rest of the Church.

After three years he goes to Jerusalem and spends fifteen days with St Peter

establishing a personal link with him and obviously making sure that he is

acting with the authority of the whole Church and keeping to its message.

Fourteen years later, he was to do the same again to resolve other matters (see

Galatians 1:11-2:10).

Whether we see ourselves as more of a Peter or a Paul, or maybe not too much

of either (you don’t need to be an extravert to enter the kingdom of heaven), it’s

that link with Christ through the Church that is key. In the Gospel, Christ asks

Peter, first, who do people say I am, and then, who do you say I am? It’s what

the Holy Spirit is saying through Peter that counts, not the other voices. Today,

it’s not what various celebrities, the TV or people on the internet say that

counts, it’s what does the Pope say? Why go for the opinions of flesh and

blood, when we have the message of our Father in heaven? Obviously I’m

talking about matters of faith and morals. If we asked previous popes which

was the best football team, we might get Italy, then Poland, then Germany, then

Argentina, then either America or Peru. We have a real gift with the papacy as

Catholics, with the promise that the gates of hell will not prevail.

So whether you are more a Peter or a Paul, or not much of either, it’s that unity

with Christ through the Pope that is key. It’s why the Lord could say to Saul,

not just, why are you persecuting the Church, but: “Why are you persecuting

me?”

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk