Peter and Paul Unlikely Heroes – Wilson SVD

 Peter and Paul Unlikely Heroes – Wilson SVD

 The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

June 29 – Acts 12: 1-11; 2 Tim 4:6-8,17-18 and Matthew 16: 13-19

As a church we are celebrating the feast of two of most unlikely heroes: Peter and Paul. I have often wondered why these two saints, called the pillars of the Church are celebrated together? Don’t they each deserve a special day of celebration? It is very significant that the two pillars are celebrated together; the twin apostles represent the beginning and the continuity of the church/movement founded by Jesus Christ.

These two saints were very different from each other. Both had their strengths and flaws. Each of them had different mission but together they built the church. Paul, the zealous persecutor of the church became a zealous missionary. Peter, the impulsive and unstable, becomes the strong leader of the Church.  Each in their own way carried out the mission and ministry of Jesus through their words and deeds.

Peter, the fisherman from Galilee, was not very poor (recent archaeological findings say he owned a wooden boat - very expensive those days). Peter possibly had very minimum schooling.  Peter knew Jeus for nearly three years. He heard Jesus speak and teach. He saw Jesus relating with people and responding to their life situations. Peter was not only a direct witness to all that Jesus said and did but was part of his messianic activities. Yet Peter denied and disowned Jesus.

Paul, - Saul from Tarsus, a fiercely observant pharisee, a learned man. Paul never met Jesus. He was entrusted with the responsibility of persecuting and if needed killing the followers of Jesus. He watched Stephen being stoned to death. The followers of Jesus were a threat to what Saul held dearly: his Jewish customs and laws. Nevertheless, he encounters Jesus in a most profound way and transforms to be a zealous missionary for Jesus. The persecutor becomes the proclaimer.

Our Take Away

1. Given the nature of Peter and the character of Saul, who will pick them to lead the new church? By human standards, they lack credentials, and they are not trustworthy. But God’s ways are not our ways.

2. God does not choose the powerful,  the wealthy, or the clever but the least unexpected.

3. God does not look at what one is now but what one can become for Him.

4. God does not call the qualified but qualifies the called.

5. God calls us in the present to the future.

A few Lessons

1. Peter and Paul represent the inclusive nature of the Church. The church consists of people from all walks of life. Any division is unwarranted.

2. Jesus called Peter, who denied him, and Paul, who persecuted him, to be his missionary unto death. Some of the qualities of Peter and Paul oftentimes resonate in us. We are imperfect – why wouldn’t the same Jesus call you and me?

3. Peter and Paul accepted their past and changed their paths. With Jesus's touch, Peter and Paul, the flitting feathers, became unshakable pillars. In the same way, we may allow God to work in and through us.

 

Wilson SVD

Divine Word Missionary