Word to the Wise
Sunday, June 29, 2025 - June 29: SS. Peter and Paul, Apostles: Day
[Acts 12:1-11; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 17-18; Matt 16:13-19]I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. [1 Timothy] "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still other Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." [Matthew]
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SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2025 STS. PETER AND PAUL -apostles
It is not often that the feast day of a saint (or saints) replaces a Sunday in the liturgical calendar. A feast day has to be classified as a "solemnity" to do that! It's still a Sunday, but the scriptures are not the usual ones and the vestments are red and not the green of Ordinary Time. The figures of Sts. Peter and Paul stand as giants in the past and now in the Church. The church celebrates their faith for which they were martyred, as tradition holds, in Rome. Their statues stand tall at the big plaza in front of the Basilica of St. Peter. (St. Paul gets his own big church, St. Paul Outside the Walls, near the spot where tradition holds he was martyred.)
The influence of these two saints cannot be overstated. St. Peter represents the authority of the faith entrusted to the apostles to teach and guide and decide. The gospels point to him as the leader in this role and he is personified in Pope Leo XIV who has "inherited" the role and office through "apostolic succession." This role is referred to as the "Petrine ministry."
St. Paul's influence comes from his letters which have shaped Catholic faith down the centuries and continue to do so. The role of the Holy Spirit and the gifts that come from its presence in the baptized believer are highlighted in those letters and challenge each of us to put them at the service of the community of faith and in the proclamation of our faith to the world. St. Paul's missionary journeys are testimony to the strength of that faith which has been handed down to us. His "charismatic" approach in the church is traditionally called "the Pauline ministry."
In celebrating their ministry, which is continued today, we recognize that while Sts. Peter and Paul were martyred, they live on today. They may have been killed, but they are still very much alive. AMEN
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