Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Mt 16:13-19
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or
This Sunday, the 29th of June, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. These two great saints epitomize the truth about the grace of God. Jesus appointed Simon, son of John, as Cephas, the Rock foundation of the Church. Yet immediately after the formal appointment, the Lord rebuked him: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because you are not thinking as God thinks but as human beings do!” (Mt 16:23). He further failed Our Lord when, even before the cock crowed, he denied Him three times. Yet what made him a great saint and the foundation stone on which the Church was built? Jesus has the answer. It was the heavenly Father’s wish to grant Peter this supreme grace and privilege: “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Mt 16:17). In short, he was a failure, but by the grace of God, he has become a great pillar of the Church.
Similarly, St. Paul is a great saint, the missionary par excellence of the Church. Yet he had the constant awareness of his unworthiness and of God’s boundless graces: “For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; yet not I, however, but the grace of God [that is] with me” (1 Cor 15:9-10).
Today we celebrate the feast of these two great saints, the two main pillars of the Church, not only to honor them, but also to express our gratitude and joy for God’s bounteous graces bestowed upon us, despite our failures and unworthiness. What we are now is not due to our merits and accomplishments but are the fruits of God’s generosity and mercy. Indeed, like St. Therese of Lisieux, we can say that “everything is grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father’s love.”
However, this does not mean that we remain passive recipients of these graces. We have to be reminded that, as baptized Christians, we have a mission to fulfill. Before His ascent into heaven, Jesus gave this all-important command to all His followers: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Mt 28:19-20).
God has granted us all these graces, therefore, not only for our personal benefit. Rather, these are meant to be shared with others around us. Every Christian, then, is a missionary. Interestingly, the more we share these gifts, the more they grow and bear fruits in our lives.
St. Peter and St. Paul are the two main pillars on which the Church stands and moves forward. As a man cannot stand and move without his two feet, so also the Church cannot grow and move without these two pillars. As the first Vicar of Christ, St. Peter symbolizes the stability and strength of the Church, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her.” He steadfastly held on to the authentic Magisterium of the Church in Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. He is the centripetal force of the Church.
On the other hand, St. Paul, the greatest missionary of all times, symbolizes the dynamism and growth of the Church. His missionary travels, with the Holy Spirit as the driving force behind him, led to the rapid spread of the Gospel to all parts of the world. He is the centrifugal force of the Church.
Without the orthodoxy and stability of the ‘Rock’, the Church would have long ago crumbled and swept away by the flood of errors and relativism in the world. And without the dynamism and vitality of the Missionary, the Church would have remained a small sect within the confines of Judeo-Christian communities.
St. Peter and St. Paul do not only exemplify the life of the Church, but also the life of every Christian. Nowadays, we are bombarded with all sorts of attractive but erroneous ideas and teachings, mostly concerning materialism and relativism. But life is not only about material things; there are spiritual realities we cannot and must not ignore. And there are also truths that do not depend on our personal opinions and feelings but are absolute and immutable. We need, therefore, St. Peter’s orthodoxy and steadfastness in holding on to the truths revealed by Christ and proclaimed by the Magisterium of the Church. Otherwise, we will get confused and deceived by the false prophets that abound.
But our Christian life is not just about holding on to the absolute truths. We also live in a world that is constantly changing and developing. We need to adjust and grow. Otherwise, we will be left behind and our faith becomes irrelevant. That is why the Church nowadays calls for New Evangelization. In this regard, we look up to St. Paul’s zeal and dynamism. Every Christian is a missionary. This is what the priest reminds us at the end of every Mass: “The Mass is ended. Go in peace!” It is not a simple dismissal of the community. Rather, it is a commissioning. After every Mass, we are sent forth as missionaries.
Let this celebration today be an opportunity for us to examine the state of our Christian life. May we strive to remain faithful to the teachings and commands of our Lord, like St. Peter. And may we be filled with zeal and courage to go out and share our faith to others, like St. Paul. Then, our life as Christians is complete.
