St.Peter and St.Paul

St Peter (Kepa (The Rock) ) & St Paul (Saul)

St.Peter was a fisherman, a man who got up early in the morning and went to
work at hard labor. He had calluses on his hands and came home at the end of
the day smelling of fish and sweat. He did not have much formal education,
and yet he was chosen to be one of the twelve apostles - a position that
will involve very high office in the future Kingdom of God. "Now when they
saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned
and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they
had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13 KJV)

St.Paul was a "thinker," a highly educated and intelligent man, a teacher of
religion (and a tent maker when money was short) - who was also chosen by
Jesus to be an apostle. "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and
suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven ... And he
trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the
Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee
what thou must do." (Acts 9:3,6 KJV)

The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, is a feast commemorating the martyrdom
in Rome of the apostles St. Peter and Paul of Tarsus, observed on June 29.
The celebration is of ancient origin, the date selected being either the
anniversary of their death or of the translation of their relics. This day
commemorates the martyrdom of the two great Apostles, assigned by tradition
to the same day of June in the year 67. They had been imprisoned in the
famous Mamertine Prison of Rome and both had foreseen their approaching
death. Saint Peter was crucified; Saint Paul, a Roman citizen, was slain by
the sword. They were the two men around whom the mission of Jesus to
establish the Kingdom was centered and from whom it grew and spread to every
corner of the world. As the preface for todays Mass says: Peter raised up
the church from the faithful flock of Israel. Paul brought your call to the
nations, and became the teacher of the world. Each in his chosen way
gathered into unity the one family of Christ. Both shared a martyrs death
and are praised throughout the world. Each one represents two very distinct
roles of the Church in its mission to the world.

All Scripture is alive with Saint Peter; his name appears no fewer than 160
times in the New Testament. After Pentecost he stands out in the full
grandeur of his office. After the miraculous catch of fish on the Sea of
Galilee, Peter received his definitive call. He left his family, and
occupation to take his place as leader of the Twelve. Thereafter we find him
continually at Jesus side as the spokesman of the apostolic college. His
sanguine temperament often led him into hasty, unpremeditated words and
actions; his denial of Jesus during the passion was a salutary lesson. It
accentuated a weakness in his character and made him humble.

Paul, on the other hand, represents the prophetic and missionary role in the
Church. It is that part of the Church which constantly works on the edge,
pushing the boundaries of the Church further out, not only in a geographical
sense but also pushing the concerns of the Church into neglected areas of
social concern and creatively developing new ways of communicating the
Christian message. This is the Church which is constantly renewed, a Church
which needs to be constantly renewed. This renewal is spurred on by the
Churchs contact with the surrounding world. This world is itself changing
and, in our own times, changing with bewildering speed. Saint Paul was
originally Saul of Tarsus, born in that city of Cilicia of Jewish parents,
two or three years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. He studied in
Jerusalem at the feet of the famous teacher Gamaliel, who later would be
converted and listed among the Saints. While still a young man, Saul was a
man of commitment and zeal, was a witness at the stoning of the proto-martyr
Stephen. In his restless zeal he pressed on to Damascus, where he was
miraculously converted. He left Damascus for a long retreat in Arabia,
before he set out at the call of God, and carried the Gospel to the
uttermost limits of the known western world, for years living and laboring
with no thought but that of Christ crucified, no desire but to dispense
himself for Him. He became the Apostle to the Gentiles, whom he had been
taught to hate. Paul who may never have met Jesus personally, has left to
the Church the treasure of thirteen Epistles, which have been a fountainhead
of doctrine, elucidating the most basic truths taught by Christ, and
constituting the consolation and delight of her greatest Saints. His
interior life, insofar as words can express it, lies open before us in these
divine writings; it is the life of one who has died forever to himself, and
risen again in Christ Jesus. Saint John Chrysostom, his imitator, wrote:
The heart of Paul is the Heart of Christ! Nor will his labour cease while
the race of man continues. Even now, like a chivalrous knight, he stands
alive in our midst, and captivates each of his readers to the obedience of
Christ.

Another fundamental lesson offered by Paul is the universal breadth that
characterizes his apostolate. Acutely feeling the problem of the Gentiles to
know God, who in Jesus Christ Crucified and Risen, offers salvation to all
without exception, Paul dedicates himself to bring the good news to them
and to announce the grace destined to reconcile men with God, self and
others. Pauls exhortations concerning the various charisms that give life
and structure to the Christian community also derive from this. The Apostle
wrote, To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good. It is important, however, that all the charisms cooperate with one
another for the edification of the community and do not instead become the
cause of a rift. In Pauls apostolate difficulties were not lacking, which
he faced with courage for love of Christ. He himself recalls having endured
pain, imprisonment, beatings and numerous brushes with death. He says that
three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three times he was
shipwrecked, and he passed a night and a day on the deep sea. He adds that
in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and
thirst, through frequent fasting, cold and exposure he has worked on his
mission. All this was possible because of his intimate knowledge of Jesus
Christ. Both Peter and paul are undoubtedly heroes of faith.