Reading: Acts. 12:1-11; Ps. 34 ; 2 Tim. 4:6-8.17-18; Matt. 16:13-19
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia
LEARN TO BRING YOUR UNIQUE MISSION INTO THE ONE MISSIONARY MANDATE OF CHRIST
There is something deep and unique about every person as regards the master plans of God for humanity. But sometimes it takes personal experience to discover this uniqueness. I don’t know if you have ever had an experience that made you think about your purpose on this earth as you realize the emptiness of this life. A kind of experience that turns pride into humility, sinfulness into righteousness, an experience that changes your perspective about things or people?
This is the kind of experience Saints Peter and Paul whose solemnity we are celebrating today had with Jesus on different occasions that made them change their perception of life as they embraced their mission and mandate from Jesus. Their very encounter with Jesus brought a great transformation. Thus Simon left his fishing profession and became a Fisher of men and a preacher of the word of God with a new name Peter the Rock on which Jesus built his Church, the same thing with St. Paul.
This is evident in our Gospel passage today, where Peter demonstrated an act of faith as he gave an inspired answer to the question about the personality of Jesus. And Jesus stresses that Peter’s faith is a gift from the Father when he says: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Here the key represents the authority to open the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven, and to judge whether to admit or to refuse. While the expression “binding and loosing” refers to the doctrinal decisions and disciplinary power of St Peter. that is, the faculty to impose and to lift. This is a guarantee that Peter’s decisions in the exercise of his ecclesial function are valid in the eyes of God.
And that is why in the iconographic tradition we see the keys in the hand of Peter, because, the faith given to Peter by God is the rock on which Jesus built his Church. This is what St Peter expressed in our first reading today when he said: “Now I know that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were so certain would happen”.
Meanwhile, Paul’s encounter brought true conversion in his life and changed his perspective about Christians with a new identity, changing his name from Saul to Paul. A name indicating his new mission as the Apostle of the Gentiles. Little wonder the iconographic tradition represents St. Paul with a sword. The image of the sword refers to his entire mission of evangelization and that was the instrument with which he was killed.
No doubt that St. Paul carried out his mission with all his zeal and passion he is regarded as one of the apostles and today his works still speak about the effect of his personal encounter with Jesus. Hence, we heard him saying in our second reading: I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his appearing.
Thus, the relationship between Peter and Paul is designed by God for the mission entrusted to them. Their lives are symbols of unity in one missionary mandate of Christ. St. Peter was entrusted with the leadership of all the Apostles and the Church, while St. Paul was empowered and entrusted with the mission to the Gentiles (Gal.2:8). For this mission they both suffered martyrdom for the faith and their love for God and the mission entrusted to them by Jesus.
This very sacrificial life of love is what we are celebrating today, as being represented in different images and statues of Saints Peter and Paul as seen in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica, in the seminaries and in parishes, of which they are easily recognizable by their respective attributes: the keys in the hand of St. Peter and the sword held by St. Paul, showing us the fraternal zeal and unity of these two Apostles on their way to martyrdom for the love of Christ.
Dear friends, like Saints Peter and Paul we must learn to bring our unique mission into one missionary mandate of Christ. This is important following the ugly events of division, manipulation and multiplication of Churches going on in Christianity today. Hence, we are called to examine our conscience to know where we are with regard to our faith as Christians, we are called to be convinced of who we are and the need to truly unite together in God and His Church entrusted to St. Peter of which the get of the underworld shall not prevail against it.
LET US PRAY: Almighty and ever-living God, as we begin our day with the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, create in us we pray, a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit of true faith within us, so that your Church may truly be united as one. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.
