Saints Peter & Paul (1st century) apostles
Today
is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, twin founders of the Church
in Rome.
It is the day traditionally considered in pagan Rome to be its
foundation day by Romulus. Although Paul had occasion to stand up to
Peter because he would not eat with Gentiles - 'I opposed him to his
face, since he was manifestly in the wrong' (Gal 2:11) - they are both
jointly honoured on this feast.
It is a day when the Pope confers the
pallium on all the archbishops whom he has appointed in the previous
year. In the image Peter and Paul are shown exchanging a warm embrace -
the haspasmos.
The conversion of St Paul is celebrated on 25th
January.
Simon
was a bit of a bungler. Is there then an irony that is providential in
Jesus' choice of him as the leader of the campaign and of the
community he put together to bring his salvation to the
world. Simon's mission is implied in the new name that Jesus gave him,
Cephas or Peter, meaning Rock.
Top of the lists
The name, Simon who is called
Peter', appears at the top of every list of the apostles in the gospels.
When Jesus asked, 'Who do you say I am?' Simon made the supreme
confession of faith – 'You are the Christ,' he said, 'the son of the
living God' (Mt 10:2-4 and 16:15-16).
Impulsive and enthusiastic
In character, Peter is
impulsive and enthusiastic - wanting to make three tents at the
transfiguration on the mountain (Mt 17:4), attempting to walk on the
waters and then has to be rescued by Jesus when he begins to sink (Mt
14:29-31). He denied Jesus three times, as Jesus had foretold he would
(Mt 26:69-75).
Reinstated and mission
Jesus, however, takes
special care to reinstate Peter as leader after the resurrection, asking
three times "Do you love me?" and telling him, “Feed my sheep" (Jn
21:15-17).
The mysterious and providential character of Peter's (and perhaps
everybody's) life comes out in the words Jesus then spoke according to
John's gospel.
I tell you most solemnly,
when you were young
you put on your own belt
and walked where you liked;
but when you grow old,
you will stretch out your hands
and somebody else will put a belt round you
and take you where you would rather not go (Jn 21:18).
Pentecost, imprisonment and escape
At Pentecost
Peter surprised the people in Jerusalem with the power of the words he
spoke about Jesus’s resurrection (Acts 2:40-41). Later he was imprisoned
by Herod Agrippa, but had a miraculous escape (Acts 12:1-11).
Opposed by Paul
At Antioch, however, Peter gave
into racial prejudice, declining to eat with the pagans, but Paul boldly
corrected him. He tells us: 'I opposed him to his face, since he was
manifestly in the wrong' (Gal 2:11).
Death and memory
Tradition has it that Peter came
to Rome and was martyred under Nero around 64 AD. The emperor
Constantine built a basilica to house his tomb. The present (16th
century) basilica is now on that same site. Twentieth century
excavations discovered the tomb of Peter, though it is impossible to say
the bones are his.
A Petrine ministry
Today in ecumenical circles
there is a growing sense that the seminal text of Matt 16:13-19 where
Jesus gives Peter authority to bind and loose can and should be
interpreted in the sense of a Petrine ministry of leadership and
stability in the Church.
Peter is the chief steward in the palace of the
kingdom with a role of rescuing from death's dominion.
If the Catholic
Church could find a less triumphalistic and more humble word than
'infallibility' as well a more collegial way of exercising its
Petrine ministry, would it then find a more universal acceptance?