Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul (June 29, Fr. Roberts)

Today we are celebrating the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. You may find it interesting that we celebrate a feast where the two of them are commemorated together. This, however, is not the only time we commemorate Peter and Paul during the year. On January 18th we commemorate Peter and his confession of Jesus as the Messiah, and on January 25th we commemorate Paul's conversion. But here we remember them together because of their shared end as martyrs in Rome. Both brought the Gospel to Rome. Paul was eventually granted the dignified death by beheading afforded to Roman citizens, while Peter was crucified upside down.

Our readings today point us to each of their deaths. In the Epistle, we hear Paul say, "the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." And in the Gospel we read of Christ foretelling the way in which Peter would die.

Feasts and commemorations are meant to guide us. To form us. To show us something about the way we are to live ourselves. Today we are being reminded of death, and of the way two leaders of the church died. They died sharing the Gospel. Proclaiming the good news of salvation for sinners. That God had become man, destroyed death, and made a path for all people to once again be in the presence of God.

This proclamation is also present in each of our readings today. Peter confesses his love for God, and Paul urges Timothy to proclaim the message regardless of what trials may come. He urges Timothy to remain consistent with the Gospel message and not exchange it for something new. 

Paul warns that "the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths." Proclaiming the Gospel, and proclaiming it boldly, consistently, and accurately, is a difficult task. One that Paul foresees.

While this day is largely a call to be leaders and proclaimers of the truth, and a reminder that we will likely have to endure suffering on account of the counter-cultural nature of the Gospel, it is also a call to be careful followers. Followers choose their leaders. Paul warns that followers strongly desire to find teachers who will tell them what they want to hear rather than the truth that is more difficult to hear. While it is true that we should all be leaders in the bold proclamation of the Gospel, we will not all be leaders of the Church in the same way that Peter and Paul were. Every one of us, however, will be followers regardless of our leadership status. We must be careful about who we follow. We must be discerning about whether we are looking for leaders who simply tell us what we want to hear rather than leaders who speak the truth of the Gospel.

This is what leadership looks like. It looks like martyrdom. It looks like people who are not celebrated by our societies, but accused by them. It looks like people who are patient in their teaching and remain committed to the Gospel as it has been handed down to us over many generations. We should seek leaders who fight the good fight, who keep the faith, who lead us to proclaim the Gospel to all people, and who truthfully guide us toward a death that will result in our attaining our own crown of righteousness