29 June 2014
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
The Church graces us with eight readings to celebrate this feast. We choose a single verse at the heart of the ministry of Saints Peter and Paul: Through all the earth their voice resounds and to the ends of the world their message.
Their
message was the “Good News of Jesus Christ.”
Each man’s understanding of “Messiah” would influence the growth of the
church. Peter’s bold assertion, You are the
Christ, the Messiah of God, became the foundation of his call to a new
leadership. He became the rock upon which the church would be built. Paul’s blinding revelation on that road to
Damascus (sans horse!) showed him a
new “Christology.” This deeper understanding of Messiah enabled him to see
religious truths in a new light: death as life, weakness as strength, suffering
as glory. For Paul, Christ would no longer be a “stumbling block” but
empowerment.
While
these two pillars of church history spread a common message of Jesus Christ,
each had a unique
role in the building of the church. “The Petrine influence
brought to the church the deposit of faith and its central authority, stability
and magisterium (teaching). Peter’s contribution defined and codified what church
would mean for all ages. The Pauline impulse moved beyond the legislative
foundations to embrace the freedom of God’s grace.”* Paul’s contribution would
empower believers to live a Spirit-filled Christian life.
The work and witness of both men were needed to enable the Good News to spread.
This
day we celebrate the vision of these two early Christian leaders. They
essentially complemented one another’s direction for the church, insuring its
growth and stability, enabling the message to go out to every generation and
every age. We, too, join in their mission to bring the “Good News” to all while
we join together to celebrate the
riches of human diversity that, in the case of Peter and Paul, broadens our
understanding of the Risen Christ.
*Source:
Invitation to the New Testament: A
Catholic Approach to the Christian Scriptures by Alice Camille,
ACTA
publications.
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
