Today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Martyrdoms of Saints Peter and Paul. Together they form the foundation on which the entire church of Christ rests. Peter is the leader, chosen for the task by Jesus himself (you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it); and Paul is its fearless preacher – carrying the message of salvation, as Jesus himself commanded, to the ends of the earth. We honor the living foundation of our faith today because we believe in the church that arose from their amazing lives and heroic deaths.
It was Peter who worked among the people of Israel, the Lord's own family, trying to convince them that Jesus: the Christ, the Son of the Living God (which he himself confessed under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit at the command of God the Father) was truly the long-awaited Messiah. They were to look for no one else. No one else had the words of everlasting life; no one could have them, other than Jesus. Peter converted and baptized many Jews by his powerful preaching and witness to the realities of Christ's life, death and resurrection.
Paul, in his three missionary journeys brought the Good News of salvation to most of the known world. He endured many hardships, trials and persecutions. Yet he never wavered in his vocation to preach Christ Crucified to the entire world – and to bring to all the Easter message of the Joy of Risen Life: which is God's singular free gift, being the result of the death of Jesus on the Cross. I have competed well (Paul relates exhaustedly); I have finished the race; I have kept the faith…The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamations might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
Both Peter and Paul gathered into unity the one family of Christ; both Peter and Paul shared a martyr's death in Rome (Peter first, Paul soon following); and both Peter and Paul are praised throughout the world to this day – for being outstanding witnesses to what life in the church is all about: giving one's all, so that Jesus can continue to give his all, to all who are joined to him by baptism, and those even who still lack him: the welcome mat is always out in front of any Catholic Church door!
Sts. Peter and Paul we thank you for all you did for the Church and still do, and we ask your special blessings on the newly forming "All Saints Parish." As all the angels and saints are gathered around the throne of God in heaven, so may we glimpse our true destination every time we gather for worship in any of the "churches," "worship sites" of the new parish – but especially here at St. John's.
Taste and see how good the Lord is; blessed are they who take refuge in him.
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