Today’s combined feastday, on which we celebrate St. Peter and St. Paul, brings together the two crucially important works (or tasks) of the Church: teaching and preaching.
Jesus gave St. Peter a unique role among His followers: he was to be the rock, the firm foundation, on which Jesus would build His church. It was an extraordinarily significant role for Jesus to give to any of His disciples. St. Peter’s role was further spelled out by Jesus giving him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (the image of the keys suggests authority). The nature of that authority was expressed in terms of “binding and loosing,” likely a reference to a teaching authority. St. Peter, then, was entrusted with the task of authoritatively interpreting the teaching of Jesus for other members of the Church. Yet, this same St. Peter would try to deflect Jesus from taking the way of the Cross, and when Jesus did take that way, St. Peter would deny any association with Him. Jesus is portrayed, especially in St. Matthew’s Gospel, as giving a significant role to someone who remained very flawed.
If the Gospels associate teaching with St. Peter, the remainder of the New Testament associates preaching with St. Paul. He refers on more than one occasion to the Lord who “gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be preached for all the pagans to hear.” St. Paul was, indeed, the great preacher of the Gospel, especially to the pagans throughout the Roman Empire. He preached it for the last time further west, in the city of Rome, where, like St. Peter, he was martyred for his faith in Christ. In his Second Letter to St. Timothy (4, 6–8. 17–18), he says, “I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith.” The image of the fight and the race suggest that “keeping the faith” was a struggle for St. Paul – it did not come easy to him – just as keeping the faith did not come easy to St. Peter either.
Does keeping the faith come easy to any of us? St. Paul’s letters show that he was very aware that keeping the faith was not due primarily to his own efforts; it was the Lord who enabled him to do so. In fact, it is the Lord who empowers all of us to keep the faith. The Lord’s faithfulness to us enables us to be faithful to Him – His faithful love encourages us to keep returning to Him even after failure. St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us.
