PETER AND PAUL

INTRODUCTION

[The title of my homily or reflection for today is, “Peter and Paul.” The scene is Rome. The year is 67 – the estimated year both Peter and Paul were killed in Rome.]

Good morning.

My name is Peter. [Step out of the pulpit to let Paul speak.]
And my name is Paul.

Both of us are here today to say something about ourselves. This is a little bit embarrassing – but we have this feast day named after us – so someone suggested we give a bit of a bio about ourselves and make a few comments.

I defer to Peter, our leader, “Papa”, or “Abba”, to speak first. [Step out of the pulpit to let Peter speak.]

Okay, thank you, Paul. Let me say a bit about myself – some background and then how I was blessed to meet Jesus Christ.

I was a fisherman – just an ordinary fisherman. My brother Andrew and I would have simply been fishermen all our lives – and we would have been part of the millions and millions and millions of people nobody ever heard of – except our families and our village.

Sometimes our nets were full and sometimes it seemed that the whole Lake of Galilee was empty of fish.

Then one day – we had just fished all night long and caught nothing – this traveling carpenter came along and spoke to the crowds not too far from my partners’ and our two boats. We were cleaning our nets and this Jesus was preaching. The crowd was building up the more he spoke.

Then this Jesus, to better reach the crowd, gets into my boat and preaches some more. We could hear his words – and we wondered who he was.

Then, surprise, he spots me and calls me over and says, “Let’s go out into the deep water and lower those nets for a catch of fish!”

I said to him, “Fish? Look, we spent the whole night fishing and caught nothing.”

Silence.

My brother Andrew was wondering what I would do next.

Well, there was something about this Jesus, that got me to say, “Okay.”

We go out into the deep water and we lowered our nets for a catch. The nets suddenly were full. I said, “Now we know where the fish were hiding.” The nets were almost breaking, so we called to our partners, James and John, who were on the shore. They jumped into the other boat and came out to help us. We filled both boats till they were almost sinking.

Suddenly, I felt a gigantic “Uh oh” filling this little boat called me. I said, “Lord, leave me alone. I am a sinful man.”

He smiled and said, “Don’t be afraid – from now on it’s going to be people whom you’ll be catching.”

So that’s how I got into his boat. That’s how I became his disciple.

It became quite a voyage. He netted me with one toss.

I saw it all – crowds wanting to make him king; scribes and Pharisees wanting to see him dead.

He went around preaching, reaching out, healing, helping, feeding, challenging folks.

Oh, I had my doubts at times. Oh, I put my foot into my mouth a few times – but Jesus could see right through me every time – and let me tell you, I learned first hand, that life calls for forgiveness, 70 times 7 times forgiveness – every day forgiveness.

At our Last Supper together he told us, he was going to be arrested and killed. If he knew where fish were, he knew where his enemies were.

Then he said to us, “When the shepherd is caught, the sheep will be scattered.”

At that I jumped up and said, “Even if every one of us loses faith in you, I will never lose faith.”

He spoke back words that still burn me like fingers accidentally touching a red hot coal. “I’m telling you right here, right now, before the cock crows tomorrow morning, you will disown me three times.”

At that I shot back, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”

Sure enough, I hate to admit it, that night I denied him three times. And every morning since, when the roosters start screaming, the memory of my sin starts screaming.

But, as I said, Jesus is all about forgiveness.

There we were fishing after his death – back up in Galilee. We're on the lake, he's on the shore. Once more we caught nothing. Once more he tells us where to fish. Once more our nets are full. At that I jumped into the water and headed for him on the shore.

Surprise. Jesus is always the Lord of Surprises. There he is – The Risen Lord - making breakfast for us – with fish! I often wonder where did he get that fish – and why did he tell us to fish?

I know – I know why he told us to fish.

Anyway, he the carpenter, told me the fishermen, to feed the flock. He was always doing that - mixing his messages with an array of images. He knew how to catch people like fish or find people who were lost sheep.

Well, I ended up preaching about this Jesus. This Jesus who is one of us and one with God – human and divine – truly “the Christ, the Son of the living God” and our brother – crucified but risen – dead but alive – gone but here – present in the broken bread and present in the starving brother or sister without daily bread.

I preached about him in many places. I brought his presence to Antioch and to Rome. I ended up being the head guy – without wanting it. He knew that people would say this is real – because it was so unreal – a fisherman called to be the “papa” or “abba” - the first of the group – a sinner whom sinners could relate to.

Enough. I’m sure you much rather hear from Paul. But be alert while he speaks. I’m sure you heard about what happened when he was speaking one night in Troas. A young man named Eutychus was sitting on the windowsill while Paul was preaching. This young man fell asleep and fell out the window to three floors below. Here’s Paul. Hang onto your seats. (Cf. Acts 20:7-12) [Step out of the pulpit to let Paul speak.]

Thank you Peter for telling them that. I noticed while you were speaking a few people were sleeping. And by the way, the boy lived – and I went back upstairs and continued preaching till the morning.

Peter and I didn’t always get along – but that’s the beauty of this church Jesus started – so many different personalities becoming one body.

I was a tent maker who became angry with these followers of Jesus who were ripping the fabric of Judaism apart. I made it my goal to do all I could to stop them – to stop people from following Jesus. Then in the midst of my angry march to stop Christ, he knocked me to the ground. I couldn’t see, because I was so blind. My darkness which I thought was light, blinded his light – which I thought was darkness.

Slowly Jesus, the Risen One, dawned on me. Jesus pushed his way into my life and I began to see who he was and what he was about. Once that happened nothing could stop me. I found myself saying, “I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.”

I began to see Jesus in his disciples, in his followers, in everyone – that the church has all sorts of folks. It’s like a body – some are handy; some do the foot work; some are all heart; some are the backbone of the community; someone needs to be the head; some need to be ears, good listeners; some have to be seers, people who can see through things; some have to be mouth – proclaimers and teachers.

I was mouth and foot and ear. I went everywhere – watching first and then speaking – all though the Mediterranean Basin – trying to start communities, churches, bodies of Christ everywhere. I would go to Jewish settlements first. Some got the message that Jesus came to renew Israel not to destroy it.

Like Peter, I was jailed. Like Peter, I was chained. Like Peter, Christ was my strength. Like Peter, Christ kept rescuing me.

Like Peter I wrote letters back to Christian communities to encourage and to challenge them. They probably tore them up – but I hope they heard what I was trying to write to them.

Somewhere along the line it hit me: what about the rest of the world – the world beyond Judaism. What about the Gentiles? That was the big question – the defining moment and decision that had to be made. I know that you Peter had trouble with that one, but I did too. I’m glad we all saw the call to reach out to all. You reneged on this Peter, but that’s human nature, but then you rose to new life. Move two inches, go back one inch. Go three inches, go back one inch – but ever onwards.

We both realized the place to fish was not just the Lake of Galilee, but the whole Mediterranean Sea. And I hear there is an ocean beyond that - that we are to fish with Christ everywhere.

So here we are in Rome – pope and preacher. Here we are in the head city of the world and once more people want to kill Christ. Here we are – still fishing and still searching for lost sheep.

I guess that’s what this church will be doing till the end of time.

Calling on all to board the boat. Let’s go out into the deep waters and lower our nets for a catch – nets full of fish and nets full of sheep.