Tuesday, July 21, 2020 –
Today’s Holy Day of Obligation just happened in the liturgical calendar, but if you are in the United States, it sort of just passed us by without any fanfare. So, today we’ll be discussing June 29th: Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles.
Saints Peter and Paul are the two pillars of the Church. We celebrate them together because they are sort of like the rock-stars of the Church. These two powerhouses were **the guys**, so to speak, who did the most to spread the Faith.
Originally called Simon, Christ changed his name to Peter. Well, so Christ used the name Cephas (Greek), or Petrus (Latin), which literally means “rock.” Saint Peter was chosen by Christ to be the first Pope and was endowed with the keys to the Kingdom. He is the rock that Christ build His Church on!
The Catechism says a great deal about Saint Peter, but here is a good pull-out paragraph:
552 Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Our Lord then declared to him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Christ, the “living Stone”, thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it.
And then there is Paul. Originally known as Saul of Tarsus, he was the greatest persecutor of the Church. Saint Paul was chosen by Christ with a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. After this miraculous conversion, Paul set out on several journeys spreading the Gospel. He is known for writing a huge chunk of the letters (Epistles) of the New Testament.
Paul is also known as the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” It is more difficult to pinpoint a spectacular pull-quote **about** Saint Paul because most everything that references him in the Catechism is along the lines of, “Saint Paul said it best…” But, know that Saint Paul holds such a great place (ahem…PILLAR!) that in the old calendar (1962), Saint Paul had his very own feast on June 30th. That is the day after June 29th, which was (and still is) the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
Now, of course, Saint Peter also has his own feast on February 22: Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. Actually, it is quite interesting if you look at the old calendar. Saints Peter and Paul tend to be celebrated together, or at least commemorated on each other’s feast days.
Wow! We only have two Holy Days left: the Assumption and All Saints. Cool!
Saints Peter and Paul, Pray for us!
