Sts. Peter & Paul

June 29, 2014

We honor today the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, two Apostles, often referred to in Greek as “Koryfaioi” - the “highest” or “supreme” Apostles. They are honored together because according to some traditional sources, both were killed on the same date, perhaps even in the same year, in the city of Rome. One common icon of the saints (though not one to be found in our church building) shows them hugging one another. Their stories and their relationship are far more complicated than the icon would lead you to believe.

They were very different people, from different backgrounds, different paths in life, and with different ideas. St. Peter was a fisherman; today we might refer to him as a blue collar worker, with little or no education, coming from a family of modest means in the region of Galilee. St. Paul was born in Tarsus, the capital city of the province of Cilicia, in Asia Minor. Though we do not have much information about his family of origin, we do know that he studied under a famous scholar named Gamaliel, indicating that his family had the financial means to send him away for an education. Peter probably spoke Aramaic, a derivative of Hebrew. Paul was a Greek speaker.

St. Peter was among the first of the Lord’s disciples; St. Paul never knew Jesus in his lifetime. Peter was called by the Lord with or shortly after his brother Andrew; Paul was called by the Lord as he was traveling to the city of Damascus in order to pursue and arrest Christians.

There is in the New Testament mention of a fight between Peter and Paul. Paul remarks in Galatians 2:11-12 that while the Hebrew Christians were absent, Peter had no trouble eating with the Gentile Christians, but when the Hebrews were present, Peter would not do so, abiding by Jewish tradition. “Now when Peterhad come to Antioch,” Paul writes, “ I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed.”

Some scholars have overemphasized the split between the two. They were indeed different, but both were remarkable witnesses of the resurrected Christ. Peter stands as one of the great witnesses. On the day the Lord was arrested, he denied knowing him. A few days later he boldly preached in his name. Eventually he was crucified for his belief in him as the Son of God. Tradition tells us that he asked to be crucifieda upside down, because he was not worthy to die in the same way that Jesus did. Why the change of heart? To a Christian, the only explanation is that he actually saw Jesus resurrected from the dead.

St. Paul had a similar turnaround. He was an accomplice to the mob killing of St. Stephen. He was a prominent adversary of the Christian community, until one day he had this remarkable encounter with the Lord Himself, at which time he made a 180 degree turn. Why? How? What did he see on the road to Damascus?

We see St. Peter at the Last Supper as somewhat of a braggart. The Lord says that on this evening all of you will abandon me. Peter boastfully says that even if I have to die for you, I will not abandon you. Hours later we find him weeping because he has repeatedly denied even knowing Jesus.

We see the human side of Paul in an affliction he suffered. He called it a “messenger of Satan” and begged God to heal it, but God did not. “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

Arguably, Peter and Paul are the authors of most of the New Testament, and their voices defined Christian belief. Paul is credited with 14 of the 21 epistles; Peter, with 2, though many scholars question if all these are the works of these two men. Ancient tradition also gives Peter and Paul much influence in the composition of two gospels, inasmuch as Luke was a co-worker of Paul and Mark was close to Peter.

My point is something that I have told you many times before, that saints are not perfect, they are not aliens from another world, but rather they come from among us: they are imperfect people who accomplished amazing feats by the grace of God.

Some sources in tradition indicate that both were executed on the same day. St. Paul was perhaps the luckier of the two. Because he was a Roman citizen, he was beheaded rather than crucified- a quick and relatively painless death. St. Peter was not a citizen, so he could be crucified, which meant a slow, painful death.

My favorite quote from St. Peter is this: “We look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). The world in which we live is incredibly beautiful, well ordered, and blessed by God, but it is not yet all that it could be. Its imperfections include sickness, death, injustice, war, etc. It is blessed by God, but ultimately it will become even better. “We look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells”

One of my favorite quotes from St. Paul: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-25). The world's transformation begins with our personal transformation, i.e. our inner renewal, our renunciation of bad habits and practices and our dedication to God’s will.

An old television show use to begin with the words, “There are eight million stories in the Naked City. This is one of them.” There are millions of stories from the lives of the saints, I just gave you two of them .I ask that you make St. Peter and St. Paul into your friends, your teachers and your inspiration. Through their prayers may we find our way into God’s kingdom. Amen.

Fr. Stephen J. Callos