{"id":31111,"date":"2014-06-29T10:31:02","date_gmt":"2014-06-29T14:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/?p=31111"},"modified":"2014-06-29T10:40:44","modified_gmt":"2014-06-29T14:40:44","slug":"saints-peter-and-paul-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2014\/06\/saints-peter-and-paul-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Saints Peter and Paul"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual liturgical observance of the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul is an exceptional day for the Christian Church, especially the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. These saints\u00a0represent for us the founders of the Church in Rome (but in\u00a0<\/em>reality the church universal–the church to the nations). Martyrs both; Peter and Paul knew Jesus Christ in very unique ways; both called all of humanity to seek the Lord and to submit to the Lord of the Harvest, the Good Shepherd who cares intimately for each of us.<\/i><\/p>\n

The sole American metropolitan archbishop –among 23 others– to have received the pallium is His Excellency Archbishop Leonard Paul Blair. Three other archbishops will receive the pallium at another time.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pope Francis’ is typical of his concern for our encounter with the Lord, and our discernment of how we live what has been given to us (the gospel, tradition, magisterial teaching). He calls you and me to attend to the experience of the apostles in their struggle to follow the Lord faithfully and with conviction. In many ways Francis echoes what Father Carr\u00f3n of Communion and Liberation taught us in this year’s annual Fraternity Spiritual Exercises (2014) regarding the essential of Christian life: Christ and His mission. “Following” Christ, belonging to Christ is often replaced by our sin and temptation. But as Francis\u00a0adeptly reminds, we follow the experience of\u00a0Peter and Paul.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Holy Father’s homily follows.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Francis<\/a>On this Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the principal patrons of Rome, we welcome with joy and gratitude the Delegation sent by the Ecumenical Patriarch, our venerable and beloved brother Bartholomaios, and led by Metropolitan Ioannis.\u00a0 Let us ask the Lord that this visit too may strengthen our fraternal bonds as we journey toward that full communion between the two sister Churches which we so greatly desire.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod\u201d (Acts 12:11).\u00a0 When Peter began his ministry to the Christian community of Jerusalem, great fear was still in the air because of Herod\u2019s persecution of members of the Church.\u00a0 There had been the killing of James, and then the imprisonment of Peter himself, in order to placate the people.\u00a0 While Peter was imprisoned and in chains, he heard the voice of the angel telling him, \u201cGet up quickly\u2026 dress yourself and put on your sandals\u2026 Put on your mantle and follow me!\u201d (Acts 12:7-8).\u00a0 The chains fell from him and the door of the prison opened before him.\u00a0 Peter realized<\/strong> that the Lord had \u201crescued him from the hand of Herod\u201d; he realized<\/strong> that the Lord had freed him from fear and from chains.\u00a0 Yes, the Lord liberates<\/strong> us from every fear and from all that enslaves us, so that we can be truly free.\u00a0 Today\u2019s liturgical celebration expresses this truth well in the refrain of the Responsorial Psalm: \u201cThe Lord has freed me from all my fears<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

The problem for us, then, is fear and looking for refuge<\/strong> in our pastoral responsibilities.<\/p>\n

I wonder, dear brother bishops, are we afraid?\u00a0 What are we afraid of?\u00a0 And if we are afraid, what forms of refuge do we seek, in our pastoral life, to find security?\u00a0 Do we look for support from those who wield worldly power?\u00a0 Or do we let ourselves be deceived by the pride which seeks gratification and recognition, thinking that these will offer us security?\u00a0 Dear brother Bishops, where do we find our security?<\/p>\n

The witness of the Apostle Peter reminds us that our true refuge is trust in God.\u00a0 Trust in God banishes all fear and sets us free from every form of slavery and all worldly temptation<\/strong>.\u00a0 Today the Bishop of Rome and other bishops, particularly the metropolitans who have received the pallium, feel challenged by the example of Saint Peter to assess<\/strong> to what extent each of us puts his trust in the Lord.<\/p>\n

Peter recovered this trust<\/strong> when Jesus said to him three times: \u201cFeed my sheep\u201d (Jn 21: 15,16,17).\u00a0 Peter thrice confessed his love for Jesus, thus making up for his threefold denial of Christ during the passion.\u00a0 Peter still regrets the disappointment which he caused the Lord on the night of his betrayal.\u00a0 Now that the Lord asks him: \u201cDo you love me?\u201d, Peter does not trust himself and his own strength, but instead entrusts himself to Jesus and his mercy: \u201cLord, you know everything; you know that I love you\u201d (Jn 21:17).\u00a0 Precisely at this moment fear, insecurity and cowardice dissipate.<\/p>\n

Peter experienced how God\u2019s fidelity is always greater than our acts of infidelity<\/strong>, stronger than our denials.\u00a0 He realizes that the God\u2019s fidelity dispels our fears and exceeds every human reckoning.\u00a0 Today Jesus also asks us: \u201cDo you love me?\u201d.\u00a0 He does so because he knows our fears and our struggles.\u00a0 Peter shows us the way: we need to trust in the Lord, who \u201cknows everything\u201d that is in us, not counting on our capacity to be faithful, but on his unshakable fidelity.\u00a0 Jesus never abandons us, for he cannot deny himself (cf. 2 Tim 2:13).\u00a0 He is faithful. The fidelity which God constantly shows to us pastors, far in excess of our merits, is the source of our confidence and our peace<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Lord\u2019s fidelity to us keeps kindled within us the desire to serve him and to serve our sisters and brothers in charity.<\/p>\n

The love of Jesus must suffice for Pete<\/strong>r.\u00a0 He must no longer yield to the temptation to curiosity<\/strong>, jealousy<\/strong>, as when, seeing John nearby, he asks Jesus: \u201cLord, what about this man?\u201d (Jn 21:21).\u00a0 But Jesus, in the face of these temptations, says to him in reply: \u201cWhat is it to you? Follow me\u201d (Jn 21:22).\u00a0 This experience of Peter<\/strong> is a message for us too, dear brother archbishops.\u00a0 Today<\/strong> the Lord repeats to me, to you, and to all pastors: Follow me!<\/strong>\u00a0 Waste no time in questioning or in useless chattering; do not dwell on secondary things<\/span>, but look to what is essential and follow me.\u00a0 Follow me without regard for the difficulties.\u00a0 Follow me<\/strong> in preaching the Gospel.\u00a0 Follow me by the witness of a life shaped by the grace you received in baptism and holy orders.\u00a0 Follow me by speaking of me to those with whom you live, day after day, in your work, your conversations and among your friends.\u00a0 Follow me<\/strong> by proclaiming the Gospel to all, especially to the least among us, so that no one will fail to hear the word of life which sets us free from every fear and enables us to trust in the faithfulness of God. Follow me!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual liturgical observance of the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul is an exceptional day for the Christian Church, especially the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. These saints\u00a0represent for us the founders of the Church in Rome (but in\u00a0reality the church universal–the church to the nations). Martyrs both; Peter and Paul knew Jesus Christ in … Continue reading Saints Peter and Paul<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,84],"tags":[32105,31931,2466,32107,2467],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31111"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31116,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31111\/revisions\/31116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}