Dear Parishioner,
The Feast of SS Peter and Paul has been celebrated in the Church since ancient times. St Peter is the rock on which Jesus has built his church and St Paul is the “thirteenth Apostle” who is so energetic in spreading the faith throughout the Mediterranean. Having received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost with the other Apostles, St Peter evangelizes with a speech to the crowd (Acts 2:14-42). St Paul received the Holy Spirit later, at his conversion experience on the road to Damascus, and, of course, at his baptism by Ananias. In the Acts of the Apostles St Peter is not recorded as having spread the faith outside Israel. St Paul, on the other hand, is exclusively focused on the Gentiles. There seems to have been some confusion among some of the early Jewish members of the Church about the conversion of the Gentiles and St Paul clarifies this by explicitly stating: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”. (Romans 1:16). “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. (Galatians 3:28).
This a Feast about the foundation and early spread of the Church but it is not just a commemoration and thanksgiving for that. It is also a reminder and celebration of how the Church always works – through the institutional hierarchy and though the charism of the Holy Spirit given to individuals to meet the needs of the changing world. In the Gospel we see Jesus giving a commission to St Peter – “Feed my sheep”. Yet a zealous persecutor of the early Church – Paul – is given a commission completely out of the blue, on the road to Damascus. Later St Benedict will receive a call to found monasteries in Italy, St Francis to rebuild the Lord’s Church, and many more orders will be founded to meet the needs of the times. It is always like this and we ask the prayers of SS Peter and Paul that we will take our place in the life of the Church with joy and with confidence.
Yours in Christ,
Dom Timothy Gorham OSB
