The lives of Peter and Paul remind us that God can use any circumstance to bring about glory and new life
Many churches have on display statues of St. Peter and St. Paul. These two icons of faith and commitment are set before us as examples to follow and images of how the Church should work and how we should treat everyone who we encounter
Peter and Paul needed incredible occurrences for them to believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Peter makes many bold declarations of faith and often doesn’t live up to the faith that is portrayed in his statements. But he does show us that Jesus is incredibly patient with us and always loves us. When Jesus visits Peter after His resurrection, He asks the important question: “Do you love me?” Peter answers yes to that question three times and then lived his life in service to God’s people. Paul began as a persecutor of Jesus and finished the last years of his life as a missionary for Him.
Two men, very different from each other, show us the wide range of possibilities of living as a disciple of Jesus. Paul opens the door of salvation through his ministry to the Gentiles, and Peter act as a disciple primarily among the Jews. Like Jesus, they overcome the prejudices of their day and reach out to those who normally wouldn’t hear the good news of Jesus Christ. They spend their time doing what Jesus did, and in that way, increase the number of those who accounted among His followers.
Why is this feast important to us as disciples of Jesus? One of the lessons to be learned from their lives is that God has everlasting patience for those He calls to be disciples. We all have things that we have said or done that we wish we could take back, and many of us live with a certain level of shame and embarrassment about those choices. Jesus doesn’t back away from us, but is committed to us for all eternity. We need to stay committed to the road of conversion. We are not finished until we breathe our last and stand in the presence of God.
The example of Peter and Paul answers one important question for us. Who or how many people are included in the invitation to follow Jesus? The answer is crystal clear: Every single person and all of creation is meant to experience the fruits of the life of Jesus. No one is to be excluded from the community of God’s people; the good news of Jesus Christ is meant for all. Our current climate of division, judgment and hatred has no place in our community of faith. We must fight the trend of separation and division. We must stand for something else.
During this coming week, perhaps we can find opportunities to bridge the gap between people who agree with us and people who disagree. The only antidote for hatred is love, and we are not able to love without hope. Our hope must be based in something that lasts, which is the love that God has for each of us. If God’s love for any person is called into question, then God’s love for all of us is called into question. In the depths of our hearts, we all know that we did nothing to deserve this incredible commitment of love that God has for us. In fact, many of us believe that if our true selves were shown, God would reject us. The lives of Peter and Paul remind us that God can use any circumstance to bring about glory and new life.
Peter was courageous in his approach toward the empire of his day. He did not allow the political or religious leaders to take him off the path of righteousness and love that Jesus had shown. Paul did not allow the cultural separation that existed in his time to keep him from proclaiming the good news to those he was led to speak and live with.
As we enter into our summer way of life, let’s take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way. We may travel to different places and meet people different than ourselves. Let us act in a way that makes people curious. Will we make them wonder how we can love so deeply? Will we make them wonder, by our way of life, why we are so kind and generous? Will we allow our encounter with those different than ourselves to melt our hearts and allow us to love more deeply? The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Father Donald Wester is retired and serves as lecturer of homiletics at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.
