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The Apostles’ Church: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul

Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 06.27.14 |

Readings:
Acts 12:1–11
Psalm 34:2–9
 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 17–18
Matthew 16:13–19

This Sunday’s celebration of the great apostles Peter and Paul is a celebration of the Church. Peter’s deliverance from jail is compared to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Like Israel he is rescued at Passover from “the hand” of his enemy by an “angel of the Lord” after girding himself with belt, sandals, and cloak (see Ex 3:8; 12:8, 11–12; 14:19).

The Church is, as Peter says, “all that the Jewish people had been expecting.” As he affirms in his great confession of faith in Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is “the Christ,” the Messiah that the prophets had taught Israel to hope for.

But Christ is more than what the Jewish people had been hoping for.

He is the Christ. But He is also, as Peter confesses, “the Son of the living God.” Born of the flesh of the Jewish people, he is a son of Abraham and David (see Mt 1:1; Rm 1:3). Through Him and the Church founded on the rock of Peter’s faith, God fulfills the promise he made to Abraham—to bless all nations in his seed (see Gen 22:18).

What Christ calls “my Church,” is the new Israel, the kingdom of God, the family made up of all peoples—Jews and Gentiles—who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (see Gal 3:26–29; 6:16). And we must make this confession our own. Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” is addressed to each of us personally.

We must confess our faith in Christ not only with our tongues, but with our lives. As Paul describes his discipleship in this week’s Epistle, we must make our lives a oblation, an offering of love for the sake of Jesus and His kingdom (see Rm 12:1).

We know, as we sing in this week’s Psalm, that the Lord has rescued us in Christ Jesus. We know that he will stand by us, giving us strength to face every evil—and that He will bring us to the heavenly kingdom we anticipate in this Eucharist.

Our Super Apostles

El Greco: Sts Peter and Paul

This weekend's Solemnity of the dual "super Apostles" Sts. Peter and Paul plays such a core role in the history of Christianity that whether one be Catholic or another tradition we all should bow our heads to these giants and the Spirit of God who worked so powerfully through them both. Yet, they obviously stood on clay feet along with the rest of us. Peter's impulsive yet well intentioned expressions of faith, at times with a fragile loyalty to Jesus and Paul's entrance to Apostleship at a later time (post resurrection), along with his hatred for Christians before his conversion, make us stop and wonder why God chose them for roles of such fundamental leadership in the Christian community.

Normally, we may think of Peter who represents basically the institutional branch of Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, with Jesus' words of today's Gospel Mt. 16: 13-19: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it . . ."

And the great missionary spirit of the Church represented by St. Paul who carried the words of the Gospel to the Gentile world who speaks from his imprisonment in today's second reading from Timothy 4: 6-8, 17-18: "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith."

Yet, both Peter and Paul were missionaries and institutional leaders in their own right, their personalities make them a contrast. The bold courage of their faith, tempered through human weakness, unites them. Their martyrdom, likely in the years 64 or 67 A.D. during the persecution of the blood lust of Emperor Nero, make them both courageous witnesses that solidified the foundation of Christ's Church for all time.

What can we learn from them about ourselves? Though they seem to be larger than life in some ways, we are called to no less. Each of us has a message to share; a Gospel to carry by the faithful witness of our lives to the Lord Jesus in a way that brings others to see that the Church is a living body, the living presence of the risen Lord in our world today.

Yes, the Church is flawed not because of God (after all Jesus stated this is "my Church") but because God for some mysterious reason has entrusted all of this to weak and at times sinful human beings. Yet, the Church will prevail, not because of us, but as it may seem at times in spite of us.

So, today may be an opportunity to thank God that you have embraced the Christian faith and are truly blessed to be Catholic. Rather than finding all the flaws of the Church, which seems to be a favorite pastime for some, celebrate and give thanks for all the good that we have seen and continue to see. We all have a responsibility to live up to what we profess and as God did for Peter and Paul, he will do for us. The Spirit of our baptism and our Confirmation, that living Spirit of God who speaks to us in the events of our lives and unites us in the Holy Eucharist through Christ's Church, and who sustains the truth of the Gospel will help us in all things.

O God, who on the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul

give us the noble and holy joy of this day,

grant, we pray, that your Church

may in all things follow the teaching

of those through whom she received

the beginnings of right religion.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

(Collect of Solemnity)

Fr. Tim