Saint Peter and Saint Paul

June 29, 2025

Matthew 7 : 1 -23

Just last Sunday we celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. It is a happy coincidence that this very next Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. And why is this a happy coincidence? Because the lives of these two saint are living examples of meaning of Eucharist. You may remember that we said that the Body and Blood of the Lord is not just his presence among us to be able to rest in or savor his presence. So, in the Eucharist, it is not only the bread and wine that become the Body and Blood of Christ: so do you and me. We certainly are ordinary and unassuming people, yet God loves us so much that when we eat the Body of Christ and drink His Blood, we are transformed, each one of us, into the very presence of Christ in our world today. And beyond that, we are joined to one another. Individually and together we are Christ's presence.

As we go out to bring the presence the Lord to others, both believers and non believers, it is necessary for our lives as Christians, that we always remember that each of us has become the Body and Blood of Christ for all whom we meet to be poured out for the many. When we leave Mass, the Eucharist does not end at all; it is just beginning. We too are his Living Bread. And we make Christ present in the small actions and words of ordinary life.

St. Peter and St. Paul are ordinary people who were transformed by the Eucharist and their interaction with Jesus into the living, speaking, and moving Body of Christ for those around them, but their writings and witness bring Christ’s presence to us today.

Peter was son of Jona and brother of Andrew. He was a professional fisherman from Bethsaida, a fishing town on the Lake of Galilee. It was his brother Andrew who, who was a follower of John the Baptist Andrew introduced him to Jesus, and Jesus who changed his name from Simon to Cephas or Peter. Jesus made him the leader of his apostles. At Caesarea Philippi Jesus promised to make him the head of his Church, and the risen Jesus confirmed Peter’s precedence. It was the Holy Spirit Who inspired Peter’s Proclamation of the Good News to all in Jerusalem on the day of the Pentecost bringing the Church into living action. Peter made missionary journeys to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea and convened the first Council in Jerusalem. Peter wrote two epistles addressed to the whole Church. He was martyred by crucifixion under the emperor Nero. His ordinary life was transformed because he embraced Christ into his very being.

Paul the “Apostle to the Gentiles” and the greatest missionary was a Roman citizen by birth as he was born in Tarsus of Cilicia, a Province of Rome. His original name was Saul. He was trained as a tent-maker and practiced that trade. As a Pharisee he was sent to Jerusalem by his parents to study the Mosaic Law under the great Rabbi Gamaliel. Well-versed in the Scriptures, he became a religious fanatic and was ready to destroy the Christian faith. When Stephen was stoned to death by Jewish fanatics, Saul was there to support them. But he was miraculously converted on his way to Damascus to arrest the Christians. He made several missionary journeys, converted hundreds of Jews and Gentiles and established Church communities. He wrote 14 epistles. He was arrested and kept in prison for two years in Caesarea and two more years in Rome. Finally, he was martyred by beheading in Rome. While Paul as a zealous Pharisee stood out more than Peter in his daily live before he met Jesus, Paul was also basically an ordinary person.

Most of us are fairly ordinary people. What can make us extraordinary is how well we, in a sense, become what we eat: Jesus Christ. Mother Teresa once observed that a Christian does ordinary things extraordinarily. We do this only when we welcome Jesus into the very fabric of our being and living.

Fr. John Tran