Feast of Peter & Paul

This feast day commemorates the martyrdom of the two great Apostles, assigned by tradition to the same day of June in the year 67 during the persecutions of Emporer Nero after Rome burned. They had been imprisoned in the famous Mamertine Prison of Rome and both had foreseen their approaching death. Saint Peter was crucified upside-down at his request as he felt unworthy to die the same way as Jesus; Saint Paul, a Roman citizen, was beheaded by a sword.

But it is their lives and not their deaths that make them memorable. Peter was fishing in Galilee when he was called by to be one an apostle. Peter was poor and unlearned, but candid, eager, and loving. In his heart and then from his lips came the spontaneous confession: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Jesus chose and prepared him to be the Rock on which He would build His Church.

Scripture is alive with Saint Peter; he is mentioned no less than 160 times in the New Testament. But it is after Pentecost that he stands out in the full grandeur of his office. He sees to the replacement of the fallen disciple; he admits the Jews by thousands into the fold and in the person of Cornelius, opens it to the Gentiles; he founds and for a time rules the Church at Antioch.

While linked on this day, Peter and Paul sometimes appear in the Bible as rivals. We can wonder about the dynamics between them: Peter got his commission straight from the Savior himself while the upstart Saul of Tarsus arrived with the zeal of the converted and went from persecuting Christians to appropriating their doctrine, even calling Peter out publicly. So it is great to see the unity they symbolize in sharing this feast day.