Saints Peter & Paul

According to the epistle of Clement, Peter & Paul, pillars of the church, were martyred in Rome. Clement writes - "Peter who by reason of unrighteous jealousy endured many labours & having borne his testimony went to his place of glory. Paul having borne his testimony before the rulers departed from the world & went to the Holy Place".

So the church celebrates together the feast of St Peter & St Paul. But whose jealousy & envy was the cause of their deaths? In his epistle to the Galatians, Paul explained how he quarrelled with Peter on the matter of sharing food with Gentiles. Peter was not eating with Gentile Christians, only with Jews & Paul rebuked him. Peter had probable given way to pressures from Jewish Christians out of fear.

This is crucial to our understanding of these two great Apostles. It looks as if they were both betrayed by Jewish Christians who wished to Judaise the Gospel. Together they manifested a symbol of the unity of the Church - in a death that mirrored & imitated the death of Jesus. Jesus who was himself 'handed over' to death by his own people.

Peter founded no churches unlike Paul who preached the risen Jesus & founded churches throughout Asia Minor. The great missionary worker. So then how do these great men blend together? Again, writing to the Galatians, Paul tells us that he met Peter & received approval from him for the 'Gospel'. he was preaching. Paul clearly recognised the supremacy of Peter over the other disciples & wished to be in unity & in communion with them. Peter the 'Rock', Paul the 'Missionary' preaching Christ to the point of death. But as the Gospel of today tells us Matt: 16-13.19, both were 'Rocks' of faith, in their own ways.

Simon's name is changed to Peter "Petra" meaning rock because he is receiving an office from Jesus & receiving a promise from Jesus that the world will not overcome the church - Peter is given the keys to the door but what then of Paul? How do they coincide? The issue they both died for was as was suggested earlier a crucial one - namely the universialisation of the Church. The first Christians were converts to Jesus from Judaism & wished to bring into their belief in Jesus, elements of Jewish practices & culture, which would have effectively excluded Gentiles - that is non Jews. Paul resisted this so that Christianity did not turn into a Jewish sect. His unity & communion with Peter set the seal on the understanding of a universal church open to the world.

However, in order to be Saints Peter & Paul like any other Saints must show their sanctity in conversion of life. Both of them received the grace of conversion from Jesus to whom they bore fearless witness - Peter for denying him & Paul for persecuting him.

Fr Denis Geraghty OP