Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles

Today's Mass Readings

Today the liturgy gives special witness to the confession of Peter on which our faith is built: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It is of great interest that the passage from Acts relates that Peter is arrested as the Passover begins. Unlike the Jews who participate in the Feast by ritual, St. Peter experiences his own literally: his chains of bondage are loosed, the angel passed over to free him, and the apostle girds himself to flee. Peter is spared so that he can live to be the Church’s agent of communion, bringing that confession to the world. The reading from Acts is also replete with language similar to the Passion of our Lord. Peter is arrested on the feast of Unleavened Bread, placed between two sinners, and he, the apostle to the flock of Israel, is jailed by them.

St. Paul is writing from jail. Unlike Peter who escaped prison through divine intervention, Paul did not leave it, and instead went on to martyrdom. Still, he says in actuality he was released many times over: “I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.” Better to go to war with the true enemies than mere princes, for “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph. 6:12). So in truth, St. Paul is rescued from prison literally but not visually.

This feast of the two greatest apostles orients us to believe both in Christ and the universality of the gospel. Pope Francis says that faith begins when we acknowledge that we need salvation. If we have experienced it, known its fruits, and found motivation for all we do in it, then we will want to rescue others. What little thing will I do – no matter how apparently captive or limited I am – to bring the Church’s mission of salvation in Jesus Christ to others?

Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB