May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
Today the Church
celebrates the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul.
This is the patronal feast of the city of Rome, because both Peter and
Paul died in Rome, and both of them are buried there. The bones of the Apostle Peter rest in a tomb
that is directly beneath the high Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica. The tomb of Paul is beneath is the Altar in
the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
These two men changed the world.
They were not rich in the things of this world. They were not kings. They were not successful business men. They were proclaimers of a message. They were followers of the Savior. These men changed the world because they were
first changed by their encounter with the person of Jesus Christ.
The names of Simon and
Saul were changed because of their encounter with Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus gave the name Peter to Simon
the fisherman. It was a sign of a new
relationship and a new mission. The name
Peter means rock. When the Lord Jesus
gave Simon the name Peter, it meant that he would be the rock on which Christ
would build his Church. Saul was the
name of the first king of the people of Israel.
The name Paul means humble. When
Saul began his missions among the people of all nations, he proclaimed the
message of salvation with both confidence and humility. Their names were changed because of their
encounter with the person of Jesus Christ.
The works of Peter and
Paul were changed because of their encounter with Jesus Christ. Simon was a fisherman. He became Peter the shepherd. He moved from the water to the land. He exchanged the sea for the pasture. Paul was a tentmaker and a scholar of the Law.
He prepared shelter for those on a journey.
As the greatest evangelist that the Church would ever know, he prepared
people on their journey to eternal life.
Their names and their works were changed by their encounter with the
person of Jesus Christ.
The ways that Peter and
Paul died were changed by their encounter with the person of Jesus Christ. After years of imprisonment, and many
different trials, Paul was beheaded, outside the walls of the city of
Rome. He would not die a peaceful death
after years of labor. He was executed as
an enemy of the state. They killed him
for hatred. He died for love. Peter was crucified with his feet toward the
sky. It is said that he requested to be
crucified in this way, because he said he was unworthy to be crucified as the
Lord Jesus had been crucified. He was
executed in the circus of the emperor.
They killed him for hate. He too
died for love. Peter and Paul died as
witnesses to the power of the love of Christ.
They lived in faith. They
preached in love. They died in hope of
the promise of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They had seen the Lord and they had been
changed forever by their encounter with Him.
Because of their encounter with the person of Jesus Christ their names,
their works, and the way that they died were changed.
The Lord Jesus did not
change our names, but he did give us a new one.
By his invitation and by our encounter with him, we have become
Christians. That is our name. We are Christians, followers of the one who
was crucified and now lives forever. For
most of us, the Lord Jesus did not change our work. He has, however, made our daily work the
place where we grow in the practice of Christian virtue and reflect the love of
Christ. Our place of work is our mission
field.
The Lord Jesus has
changed the way that we approach death.
Death is not the end. The Lord
Jesus Christ, by his passion, cross, and resurrection has changed death
forever. He has conquered the power of
death by his glorious resurrection. He has promised to his faithful people that
death will only change our lives, not end them.
We will be transformed by the power of the resurrection.
For St. Peter and for
St. Paul, for you and for me, the encounter with the person of Jesus Christ has
changed us and is changing us forever.
May we glory in the name of Christian.
May we walk and work in the love of Christ. And may we live and die in the blessed hope of
the revelation of the glory of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
