November 18 - Homily for Today

+ Today we celebrate the feast of two of the four major basilicas in Rome:  those of St. Peter and St. Paul. The original church built over the tomb of St. Peter was begun in 330 during the reign of the Emperor Constantine, and it was enlarged and modified many times throughout the centuries under the watchful eye of some of the greatest artists and architects of all time: Bramante, Raphael, Peruzzi, Sangallo, Michelangelo, Maderno and Bernini. It is the central church in Christendom and is meant to reflect the very throne of God itself from which all blessings come, and to where all creatures will one day go. The crypts and altars of the basilica contain the burial places of over 130 popes.

The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (of Rome) was first built over the relics of the Apostle Paul, by Constantine in the fourth century. It too underwent several revisions. The basilica burned to the ground in 1823 and was rededicated after a complete rebuilding in 1854. The church has been maintained over the centuries by Benedictine monks who live in an adjacent monastery.

The reason that the Church celebrates these two visible church buildings is because of their association with Sts. Peter and Paul upon whom the entire invisible structure of the Church rests. It is the keys of Peter and the preaching and teaching of Paul derived from the action of the Holy Spirit himself that gives the Church its life and credibility.

In a world that in many ways is getting tragically more and more ugly and disfigured every day, may we look to these two magnificent edifices as ineffable symbols of the glory of God of which we are called to share both in this life and in its fullness in the next. We need reliable, beautiful, awe-inspiring symbols to remind us that God is really in charge, just as he always has been, just as he always will be!

Sts. Peter and Paul pray for us!