THE WORD AND THE FEAST
June 29, 2021: Solemnity of Sts. Peter and PaulActs 12: 1-11; 2 Tim 4: 6-8, 17-18; Mt 16: 13-19
The Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, marks the day of their martyrdom...of course they were not martyred together; neither were they martyred in the same place or manner! But they were both martyred in Rome and Rome has these two principal apostles as its patron. There is one thing told of these two apostles in the readings today. They were called, and given a specific task. You shall be the rock... you shall be my instrument to take my name to the gentiles... these were the words with which the Lord invited them. And the Lord constantly protected them and rescued them, while they were on their part ready to give up anything, including their very lives, for the sake of the task entrusted to them.
However, why is this twinning...Peter and Paul? Because they were two solid pillars of reference in the early Christian Community. The Tradition of Papacy is a combination of both these apostles: Peter referring to the governance and the Paul referring to the doctrines! Both of these are equally important as roles of the Holy Father. This is the reason, this day is celebrated in many places as the "Pope's Day."
It is a day to celebrate the great God-given gift of Pope Francis! It has been 8 years! We are well aware of the numerous forces that are up in arms against the present Holy Father... from other domains of the world other than faith and religion, many from other denominations and some even from within the Catholic Church. But at a closer study and understanding it is easy for one to realise the amount of good that the present Holy Father is doing to the Church and to the world in the name of the Church.
Pope Francis seems a beautiful combination of Peter and Paul - making his mark in the governance of the Universal Church and having recourse to deep doctrines to make sense of the ordinary day to day experiences. Today, let us keep the Holy Father in our special prayers! God bless our Pope!