(Acts 12:1-11; Psalm 33(34):2-9; 2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18; Matthew 16:13-19)
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Theme: They Lived, Bled, and were Crowned for Our Salvation
On this day, the Church deemed it necessary to honour Saints Peter and Paul, who both proclaimed the word, bled for establishing the Church of Christ amongst the Jewish and Gentile nations, drank from the cup of salvation, and were crowned the friends of the Lord.
St Augustine says, we are not celebrating the feast of some obscure martyrs, but of the foremost Apostles: Peter, the Rock, who identified our Lord Jesus’ mission and His relationship with the Father, and on his name the Lord built His Church; and Paul, the least, image of the transformative power of grace, converted by the Lord and anointed to lead the Gentiles to Christ.
Thus, they were convinced to stop being impetuous and ungodly, then called to follow, chosen to be formed as Apostles, given new names reflecting their evangelistic mandates, and martyred in Rome for becoming friends of God. In other words, Peter and Paul emptied themselves as drink offerings; fought the good fight for the gospel; were persecuted but had sworn to uphold their faith and finish their races for the reception of the crown of righteousness.
Therefore, we must acknowledge Saint Peter’s faith in Christ Jesus and hunger for the crown of righteousness, which ignited his desire and courage to love and wok for the Lord, survive the prisons of King Herod and to surpass in glorious martyrdom the persecutions inflicted upon him by Emperor Nero at the Circus of Caligula in the mid-60s AD, where he was buried and where the foundation stone of St. Peter’s Basilica was laid by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD and subsequently rebuilt between the 16th and 17th centuries.
It is also evident from today’s second reading that the Lord stood by and strengthened Saint Paul during his moments of conversion, reformation, evangelisation, imprisonment, shipwrecks, persecutions, and beheading in the 60s AD. Thus, Saint Paul’s resilience, bolstered by the Holy Spirit, enabled him to proclaim, like St. Peter, the Christ, the Son of the living God, and to preach to all the Gentiles His message of love and mercy.
St Augustine reminds us that our task is to believe in the Christ of Saints Peter and Paul; to bless His Name at all times as they did in the face of persecution; to rely not on our fading earthly accumulations but to seek God graces; to empty our hearts and minds of fears and anxieties; and to hope in the Lord’s ultimate rescue of believers.