Message from Abbot Paul - St Peter and St Paul
Message from Fr Paul for Sunday, 28th June 2020
Today we’re celebrating the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, which has been transferred from Monday to Sunday. It never seems quite right to me, but there we are! They were the two great apostles on whom much of the mission of the early Church was centred, St Peter one of the original Twelve appointed by Jesus, St Paul converted from persecutor of Christians to apostle. He became the Church’s greatest missionary and theologian, called by the risen Christ. They both received the crown of martyrdom in Rome, possibly in the same year, and they have always shared this great feast day.
The Gospel passage traditionally read today comes from St Matthew (Mt 16:13-17). It describes a pivotal moment in the life of Jesus and his relationship with his disciples. They have come to the region of Caesarea Philippi on their journey down from Galilee to Jerusalem, when Jesus asks them a question. “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus here is referring to himself as the Son of Man. They reply, giving him the opinion of others. “Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” It’s strange to hear them speaking of Jesus in the third person. So Jesus asks more directly, “But you, who do you say I am?” To this Simon Peter replies, (he’s always the one to jump in first) “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In other words, “You are the Messiah, the incarnate Son of God: you are the One and none other.” On hearing this, Jesus says, “Simon son of Jonah, blessed are you, because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.” These words of Jesus must have bowled him over; whatever could they mean?
Today, of course, Catholics read into the words of Jesus the primacy of Peter, the primacy of the Pope over other bishops and the primacy of the See of Rome. But there’s much more to it than that. To begin with, Peter is always mouthpiece for the Twelve. You will remember how, after the discourse on the Bread of Life (John 6), most of the disciples walked away, saying it was impossible to believe what he was saying. Jesus said to the Twelve, “And what about you? Are you going to leave me too?” It was Peter who replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have words of eternal life.” Peter speaks for the Twelve, because they are united in their faith, so those words of Jesus in our Gospel are also addressed to the others and through them to all who believe in him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. We too should be that rock on which Christ builds his Church, in fact, each Christian is called to be a rock on which the Church of Christ is built. Are you that rock?
