Fr Marco Lazzaron
oday the Church celebrates, in a single day, two great saints: Peter and Paul. They are two pillars that contributed to the growth of the first Christian communities. Two disciples so different and yet similar: both of them go through a journey of conversion and give their life for Christ. Peter, a fisherman, was called by Jesus to become a guardian of the faith and guarantor of his message. Paul comes from the Jewish cultural world in which he fully believes, consumed by passion to the point of becoming a persecutor of Christians, but Jesus himself calls him to make him become an instrument of evangelization among the pagans and a bearer of faith in Christ.
The first reading is the story of the first persecution by King Herod. Immediately, the Christian community gathers in prayer, and on that same night, an angel intervenes so as not to leave the disciples without guidance and miraculously frees him. In the second reading, Paul writes a farewell letter to his disciple Timothy because he sees his end approaching. Paul compares the path of his life to a race, at the end of which he is pleased that he has not lost his faith, despite everything he has experienced. He also reminds us that all this was possible thanks to the Lord who was close to him and gave him strength. Paul, however, hopes that the crown will be given not only to him, but to all those who have awaited with love the manifestation of Christ.
In the Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples a question, which he also asks us today: “But who do you say that I am?” This is a question we should ask ourselves more frequently to understand where our faith stands! Peter responds promptly, but Jesus warns him: “It was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven”. Faith is not the result of a rational journey, but is a gift that comes from the Father! Peter then becomes the “rock” on which Jesus builds his Church, a community made up of men, no better than others, fragile like everyone else but made strong through Jesus.
Simon becomes Peter, Saul becomes Paul. Both have made a journey of conversion, of change. Comparing ourselves with their story, at what point are we on our journey? With which of these two saints do we identify most and in which moments of life?
Image – Christian Art
The Embrace of the Apostles Peter and Paul,
Cretan school, Angelos Akotantos,
Painted first half 15th century
tondo, paint and gilding on wood base, diameter 37.5cm,
© C. Krimbas Collection, Athens