Homilies for the Week of June 29, 2008

FEAST OF STS PETER AND PAUL, 2008
First Reading: Acts 12:1–11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:2–3, 4–5, 6–7, 8–9
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 17–18
Gospel: Matthew 16:13–19

Periodically, the Church sets aside an entire year to encourage all of us to focus on some particular and important aspect of our Faith. From today until June 29th next year, we are given a whole year to honor St. Paul, one of the great saints and founders of the early Church. St. Paul was born 2000 years ago in what is now the country of Turkey.

Saul was his Jewish name. He was born a Roman citizen. As a teenager he went to school to learn about the Jewish religion. He was the son of a Jewish pharisee who was very strict about following the Jewish religion. Paul was a tentmaker and was not a follower of Jesus at first. In fact, he hated the followers of Jesus. When it was common to kill persons by throwing stones at them, he throw stones at Steven who was one of the early followers of Jesus.

However, one day when Paul was about 35 years old, he was on his way to Damascus to put into jail some of the Catholics. All of a sudden a bright light from the sky flashed around him. He became blind, and fell to the ground and heard a voice say: Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me? He was told to go to the city and someone would tell what he should do. His travelling partner got him into the city, and after three days he got back his sight. He met Ananias, a Catholic, who baptized him and gave him the name Paul.

He moved away from his life of persecuting and arresting Christians to building up the Body of Christ. He adopted a moderate spiritual position teaching that those who became Catholics did not have to follow the Jewish proscribed dietary laws, nor did Jews who became Christians have to break away from their life long religious practices associated with the temple. He spent the next 8 years on the road preaching and teaching as a missionary. In all he made three missionary journeys, undergoing hardship, rejection and imprisonment. He was a person of almost limitless energy and enthusiasm. He was arrested by the Jewish authorities. He was sent to Rome where he was executed.

Nearly every Weekend Mass our second reading is from one of the 13 letters he wrote to the places or persons he visited. These letters make up about one third of the New Testament.
Our second reading today is from Paul’s second letter to Timothy. It is considered Paul’s last letter as he was executed shortly after writing it. As you read this letter you will notice his sadness that he will soon die. He is a condemned man. It is like his obituary. He talks about how he tried to follow Jesus, but also at some disappointments that not everyone he talked to wanted Jesus. As his life is about to ed, he feels very much alone. The letter also tells Timothy, and really all of us, that he will suffer if he tries to do the right thing. Doing the right thing can bring us more pain than popularity. But God will always be with him, he tells Timothy.

The sense of the whole passage is that he has done everything he could and that now all is in God's hands. There is nothing more Paul can now do except trust God.

St. Paul never knew Jesus. In fact he lived about 15 years after Jesus had died. He learns about his Catholic religion from those who believed. St. Paul has been called the greatest missionary taht the church has ever had. He travelled in most of the countries that is now known as the Middle East. As you read his letters you are struck with the fact of someone became so convinced of Jesus that he had to tell the good news day after day in word and in action.
This day is also known as the feast of St. Peter, the First Pope. Unlike St. Paul, St. Peter knew Jesus. Jesus appointed him the first leader of the church at the Last Supper.

Just what did Jesus see in Peter? Peter was the first disciple chosen by Jesus and became the leader of the 12 apostles. He came from Bethsaida near the See of Galilee. Peter and his father and his brother Andrew were fisherman. Peter was married and at times travelled with his wife. He was an uneducated man. Once day after a great catch of fish Jesus told Peter that he would be a "fisher of men."

Peter had a special status among the apostles. He is listed first in all the New Testament accounts of the Apostles. He is mentioned in the Bible more than any other disciple. He was one of three apostles who were the closest to Jesus. He was at Jesus’ side at the Transfiguration, the raising of Jairus’ daughter, and the Agony of the Garden of Gethsemane. He helped organized the Last Supper. He played a major role in the events of the Passion.

Today we can be inspired by the stories of these two ordinary men that were chosen by God to overcome their weaknesses and live extraordinary lives. The letters of Paul can bring us joy and also hope. In his letter to Timothy Paul's says: THE LORD WILL RESCUE ME FROM EVERY EVIL THREAT AND WILL BRING ME SAFELY TO HIS HEAVENLY KINGDOM. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul gives us one of the definitions of love and how we are to live as loving persons.

As we ponder Peter and Paul today, we could speak of all the great things they said and the miracles left in their wake. Perhaps best, though, is to see the witness of their faith. They were simply loyal to Christ. They loved Christ intensely and spoke of their love. This love -- their preaching -- landed them both in prison and eventually led to their deaths. Do we love Christ as much? Do we have this trust?