SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES, Year A
Readings: Acts 12:1-11; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16:13-19

THEME OF THE READINGS
Peter and Paul are the two great witnesses our faith goes back to (Opening Prayer). Their crucial witness to the faith ultimately rests on the strength that was given them by the Lord (Second Reading and Gospel). His intervention in their lives (First Reading and Acts 9:3) makes quite clear that the two apostles have been chosen by him to play a major role in his plans for his Church and her ultimate victory over the powers of evil (Alleluia and Gospel).

DOCTRINAL MESSAGE
At Caesarea, at a crucial moment, Peter answered for his fellow apostles and for all of us who would come to believe that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God". There were a variety of "opinions" out there, shifting sands on which no community of followers could be founded. There was need for the firm, rock-like foundation of a certain faith. If Jesus identifies Peter as the Rock on which he will build his Church, it is not due to Peter himself. Peter, in fact, was just Simon: a mans whose human frailty would, even later than this, be all too apparent. It was God who made him the Rock. "My Father did this – not you", is what Jesus tells him.

And the Father still does it, in Simon Peter´s successors, providing us with the indispensable guarantee that, in the essentials, the pope will not be swayed by the changing opinions of the times, the pressures of public opinion, the very human desire to win applause, or to give in to a compassion understood in the world´s terms – "who people say that Jesus is" – rather than the gospel´s. Underwriting Peter´s faith, God underwrites ours: this of course is the purpose of it all. Of what use would an authoritative and sure gospel be, without an authoritative and sure interpretation?

Or of what use would it be, were it not preached (cf. Romans 10:14)? So to the apostolic charism of Peter, charged first and foremost with being the principle of unity in the one true faith of Christ, God added the apostolic charism of Paul, to whom he gave the drive and the fortitude to preach far and wide so that "all nations might hear the gospel". St Paul is a giant of the mission, relentless in his dedication to spreading the Good News to more and more communities. Even though, as martyrdom looms, he is about to be led, like Peter, where humanly he would not want to go (cf. John 21:18), his is the peace and the certain hope of reward from the just judge that comes from "pouring oneself out" to fulfill to the utmost the mission received from the Lord. Both apostles sealed their witness to the faith with their blood. Like all the martyrs, their death states that a life bought at the price of denying the Truth would be a life not worth living.

Catechesis: The Church is established on the foundation of the Apostles; their role of shepherding the Church is part of her constitution and is continued by the Pope and the bishops (CCC 857-64; 880-87).

PASTORAL APPLICATIONS
The Gospel is a living book. It is different from any other book, because its protagonist, the Risen Christ, is alive and among us. And when it is read in the Church, it is Christ himself who is speaking (cf. Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7). When Jesus comes – as he does every day in the ´today´ of salvation – to our neighborhood, he asks his disciples (you!) the same questions he once posed to the apostles. And he wants to hear your personal answer. Each one of us is aware of who "people" (coworkers, an agnostic teacher, a peer group, a none-too-believing spouse, popular magazines) say that he is: a legend, perhaps, or a nice guy who lived a long time ago, or simply one among the founders of great religions. But, Jesus wants to know, "who do you say that I am?"

The answer cannot consist in the mere recitation of a formula from the catechism; it is easy enough for us to say, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God", because the force of custom has drawn the sting from the words. The challenge is to say it and really mean it. To say it with our deeds, which speak more truly than words; to say it with an entire lifestyle that proclaims out loud, at every moment, that for me Jesus truly is the Savior, the one in whom all my hopes are placed.

At the same time, it is also necessary to know and be able to articulate the faith of the Church as expressed in the Catechism; because faith feeds life. A ´vague´ faith has never bred saints for the Church. A life based on ´faith´ in a God fashioned after our own image, and a divine plan tailored to what we find acceptable, is mere make-believe. Through Peter and the apostles, and their successors, God nourishes us with a faith that is certain and true. Sustaining Peter´s faith, he sustains ours. By looking to Peter, we live in the truth.

We could hardly find a better embodiment of the twin charisms of Peter and Paul than in the present successor of Peter. A rock not only by his teaching but by his witness, Pope John Paul II has, literally, fulfilled the mandate to "preach to all nations", shed his blood and is fighting the good fight to the end, when he might have more than ample justification for "taking it easy". His is the spirit of the great apostles, who believe that there will be a whole eternity for "taking it easy"; now is the brief time given to us to do something for Christ and for our brothers and sisters.