Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul which is very special for us because we only have a one in seven year opportunity for this celebration to fall on a Sunday. This day is most special for each of us because it displays to us the need to put our words into action and through the unending ministry given by these two great apostles we are also shown the unity that must exist inside of the Church. Both of these men were called by Christ to become His apostle, both of these men were able to grow in their love for Christ each day, and eventually both of these men were willing to put their words into action by allowing themselves to endure a martyrs death. It truly is not always easy to put our words into action or to even allow ourselves to be totally unified in something. To be a Christian requires this of us because it is not just enough to claim that we know who the Son of Man is without being able to authentically display our belief through the action of our faith.
Through Saint Peter we are shown how Christ called a simple fisherman to abandon everything that He had and to follow after Him. Peter responded to this call and would follow Christ, but as we know through the scriptures He would have many moments where He failed to completely trust in Christ and thus fell into sin. If it was through the words "get behind me Satan" or the fact that he would deny Christ three times prior to the crucifixion we know that he fell into the human reality of sin. Despite this reality He would repent and prevail himself to the great mercy of God. This most human of figures was also chosen to become the first pope of the Church and was given the responsibility to keep it unified in the faith that was handed to us by Christ. Through His willingness to keep the Church unified in the faith and through His willingness to trust in God's infinite mercy each day He eventually embraced the death of martyrdom where he was crucified upside down.
Through Saint Paul we are show how the call of Christ can even come from the most unexpected of places. Paul of course was a great persecutor of Christians and was responsible for putting many to death for the practice of their faith. Yet despite this sinful past Christ came and called Him to conversion and to go out to spread the faith throughout the world. Through the many writings of Paul that are found throughout scripture we see how he was concerned with the unity of faith and also the abandonment of sin on the behalf of the faithful. He understood that the faith was so great that it was more than words placed onto paper, but instead it was about the acceptance of Christ, the daily abandonment of sin, and like Saint Peter and so many early Christians, accepting martyrdom. The martyrdom that befell Saint Paul was that of being beheaded for his unending belief in Christ.
Both Saints Peter and Paul are great examples for each of us concerning the path that we must follow to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Saints Peter and Paul were not found worthy because they wrote about Christ or even because they were called by Christ to be His apostles, but instead they were found worthy because they always put their words into action. Through their martyrdom they show that their faith was so great that it was worthy of accepting any hardship that would befall them. Yes they would stumble along the way, but in the end they were willing to sacrifice all for the unity of the faith and for the reality of Christ. Their example is great for each of us, not because we must now walk out of this Church and accept the reality of martyrdom, but instead because each of us must take our faith seriously. We cannot only walk around holding onto knowledge or speaking the right words, but we must proclaim Christ always by the way that we live our life.
We must each ask ourself who we say that Christ is. In our response we must also analyze the way that we have lived up to the expectation of being known as a Christian. We can attempt to mold Christ into being accepting of our sinful behaviors, but to do so would only cause us to fail at answering with a truthful answer. In our life we have the freedom to choose as we wish, but through the faith of Saints Peter and Paul we see the need to not do as we wish, but instead to preserve the unity of faith that is found within the Catholic Church. May we truly allow Saints Peter and Paul to intercede on our behalf that we may always search after giving an authentic answer to Christ by the way that we live our life. In this manner we can stand with them one day in Heaven as we respond not only by our words, but by the way that we have lived our life. May we truly join with Saint Peter and proclaim: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
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