HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL, APOSTLES.
THEME: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Acts 12:1-11
2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18
Matthew 16:13-19
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
RED
*INTRODUCTION*
Good morning dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of two Holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. Both of these were instrumental in their contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful, and also in the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church, with its centre in Rome.
*SAINT PETER THE APOSTLE*
Peter was a fisherman from Galilee. His world was the Sea of Galilee and the hilly countryside that surrounded it. According to John’s gospel, he was from Bethsaida, a small town on the Northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. He would have had a basic education and his first language was Aramaic.
*SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE*
Paul was from the university city of Tarsus, the capital city of the Roman province of Cilicia, on the south-east coast of what is today Turkey. He seems to have been educated to a high level. He wrote fluently in Greek. His family appear to have been well-to-do as his father was a Roman citizen. He was a zealous Pharisee, who declared himself blameless with regard to the keeping of the Jewish Law.
*WHAT ARE THE COMMON ASPECTS THAT WE FIND IN THE LIFE OF THESE TWO GREAT APOSTLES ?*
For all their differences, they had at least one thing in common. Both of these men found themselves at odds with the Lord. Peter denied Jesus publicly three times. Paul violently persecuted the followers of Jesus, and thereby persecuted Jesus himself. Yet, their resistance to the Lord did not prevent the Lord from working powerfully through them. Peter was chosen to be the leader of the twelve, the rock on which Jesus would build his church. Paul was chosen to be the great apostle to the pagans.
RELATED: HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL
*WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THE FEAST OF TODAY?*
Today’s feast reminds us that the way the Lord works through us is unique to each one of us. The feast also reassures us that our many resistances to the Lord need not be a hindrance to the Lord working through us. Peter who denied the Lord and Paul who persecuted the Lord went on to become great servants of the Lord. Our failings do not define who we are. Paul would go on to say, ‘the Lord’s grace toward me has not been in vain’. The Lord’s grace towards us in our weakness and frailty need never be in vain if we continue to open ourselves to the workings of that grace, as Peter and Paul did.
*CONCLUSION AND BLESSINGS*
May the Lord, who is glorified through His Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, continue to bless us all and guide us, His Church, His faithful ones, so that in our every good works and endeavours, we will bring ever greater glory to Him, and bring many more people ever closer to salvation and grace in Him. May our lives and actions always be exemplary and worthy of the Lord, now and always.
Saints Peter and Paul, Pray for Us.
Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
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