PETER & PAUL:

WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this June 29th Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul is, “Peter & Paul: Who Do You Say That I Am?”

In today’s gospel from Matthew 16: 13-19, we have Jesus trying to get his disciples to know who he is. He asks, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

I thought for this homily on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul - to ask the same question of Peter and Paul: “Who do you say Peter and Paul are?”

I would think Paul would be easier to describe than Peter - because there is so much more we know about Paul compared to what we know about Peter. What’s your take on Peter and Paul? How do you see each of them?

EVENTS MORE THAN IDEAS

T.W. Manson in describing Paul gives what I thought was a good insight. He says Paul was not a systematic theologian. He doesn’t give us ideas - or abstractions - or principals. Yet he says Paul is a Great Christian thinker. Then he adds: to understand Paul think events more than ideas - a series of events more than a series of ideas. Paradoxically, that’s an idea - rather than an event.

I thought the same thing can be said even more with Peter.

But what does it mean to say events more than ideas forming a person’s life? Is it the difference between forming and informing - the difference between formation and information?

OUR OWN LIVES

Have we ever looked in the mirror and said, “Who are you?” Has anyone ever said to us, “I can’t figure you out?” Have we ever replied back to them, “At times, I can’t figure myself out either.” Isn’t that how Paul felt - based on his self comments in Romans 7:14-25?

Well, what are the events that shaped my life?

A person is taught catechism - and religious education - but why am I a Catholic? Was it parents or a spouse that gave us good example? What kept us as a Catholic? Was it a certain teacher, the good example of a friend - the family we grow up in - whether our parents went to church or what have you.

I heard of a lady - who is married - has a couple of kids - has gone to Sunday Mass all her life - got her husband by her example to start going to Mass - but has only gone to confession once in her life - her first confession. As a little girl making her first confession, the priest yelled at her for not knowing the act of contrition, so she said, “That’s it for that!” And that was it for that.

We priests say behind other priests back - those who yell at parents for crying babies in church or what have you - that they are going to have to pay for all the people they have driven from the Church. So too a host of faults and foibles by the priests of our church.

I’ve made my mistakes. I’ve had one person walk out on me - that I know of. It was a priest. I was at least 30 years younger than he was. He wanted me to give the same sermon we were giving on weekend retreats to married couples on their retreat - many of whom had come to weekend retreats earlier in the year - and heard our weekend sermons. So I chose to preach on the same readings - but give a homily for a married couple. He didn’t like it - so he walked out.

I learned from that experience a lot more than reading a book or an article on the priesthood or personality. That moment had an impact on me. Let me tell you. Then there are all those people whom I hurt or bothered down through the years. I still go by the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule that an old priest once told me: 1/3 like you, 1/3 don’t like you, 1/3 don’t care. Get over it.

PETER AND PAUL

So Peter and Paul were formed by their experiences of Jesus Christ.

Paul was trying to exterminate and put an end to those who followed Jesus - and in that persecution he discovered Jesus Christ - who changed his life - and then he had crawl on the ground, before he could rise. He had to see his blindness, before he could see. He had to experience darkness, before he could see the light.

He learned humility. He “moved from a self-centered to a Christ-centered life”. Christ was his strength as we heard in today’s second reading.

Peter can be pictured as the fisherman chosen by Christ - that day at the beach. Christ must have seen something in him - that could call others to follow Christ. And right away the gospels give us the hint about Peter’s personality. Big mouth. Foot in mouth. Foot out of mouth. Foot following Christ.

CONCLUSION

What’s your take on Peter and Paul? Do 1/3 of you like Peter? Do 1/3 of you like Paul? Do 1/3 of you say, “I never thought about the question?”

Notice how I worded that last 1/3. I didn’t say, “You don’t care!” Nope I put it the way I put it, because I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth. I wouldn’t want 1/3 of you to walk out.

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NOTES:

Painting on top: Saints Peter and Paul by El Greco - Domenikos Theotokopoulos [c,1541-1614]. As far as I could figure out, this is one of 3 paintings of Peter and Paul by El Greco. That's Peter with the key in his hand and Paul pointing to his writings. Another painting has Paul with a sword.


 (1) T. W. Manson, On Paul and John, Alec Allenson, Inc. pages 11-14.