Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles 
June 29, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062924-Day.cfm

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I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well; I have finished the race;
I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.
2 Timothy 4:6-8

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Jesus said to his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:15-18

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We remember and celebrate these two great pillars of the Church. In some ways, the long passage of the years has turned each of them into figures bigger than life. Their memory is enthroned throughout the world in sculptures and cathedrals.

Our readings today remind us that they were simple people, like you and me – a fisherman and a tent maker. Their faith, while unshakeable, was tested beyond human strength. But by their believing, God’s strength became theirs.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We pray to have a simple, resolute faith like Peter and Paul. Like them, we will see God work miracles by the power of such faith.

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Two Poems today.

St. Peter – Malcolm Guite
Impulsive master of misunderstanding
You comfort me with all your big mistakes;
Jumping the ship before you make the landing,
Placing the bet before you know the stakes.
I love the way you step out without knowing,
The way you sometimes speak before you think,
The way your broken faith is always growing,
The way he holds you even when you sink.
Born to a world that always tried to shame you,
Your shaky ego vulnerable to shame,
I love the way that Jesus chose to name you,
Before you knew how to deserve that name.
And in the end your Saviour let you prove
That each denial is undone by love.

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Apostle – Malcolm Guite
An enemy whom God has made a friend,
A righteous man discounting righteousness,
Last to believe and first for God to send,
He found the fountain in the wilderness.
Thrown to the ground and raised at the same moment,
A prisoner who set his captors free,
A naked man with love his only garment,
A blinded man who helped the world to see,
A Jew who had been perfect in the law,
Blesses the flesh of every other race
And helps them see what the apostles saw;
The glory of the lord in Jesus’ face.
Strong in his weakness, joyful in his pains,
And bound by love, who freed him from his chains.

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Music: Solve Jubente Deo – William Byrd (1607)

Loosen by God’s command, Peter, the chains of the earth:
thou who makest open the kingdom of heaven to the blessed, Alleluia.