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Solemnity of SS. PETER & PAUL, June 29th.
In the Mass Readings for this day, the First Reading concentrates on Peter, the Second on Paul.
1. Vigil Mass. The First Reading describes the first miracle worked by the Apostles after the
Ascension of Jesus. It is performed by Peter (and by John, though his name seems very much to
be added as an appendage) at one of the gates of the Temple in Jerusalem.
As in other stories in the Acts of the Apostles, there is a great deal of symbolism here. St.
Luke, the author of the Acts, wishes to show the truth of the Apostles doing what Jesus did. The
man to be healed is a crippled beggar, very much of the type Jesus healed. Jesus went into the
Temple and taught; the Apostles work the cure at the Temple gate so that, in turn, the crippled
man can go healed into the Temple and give evident witness to the ‘new teaching’: in Jesus’
name all are capable of being saved and made whole.
Second Reading: St. Paul is writing to the Galatians, Christians of central Turkey. He had a
great deal of trouble with this community: they had been persuaded that they should adopt
Jewish customs after being converted to Christ, even though they had mostly been non-Jews.
When Paul tried to remonstrate with them about this, they made out that he was a false teacher.
Here, therefore, Paul stresses his credentials as an Apostle. Though he had not been one of the
Twelve, his conversion from persecutor to believer on the Damascus road made him an Apostle
indeed. It was not as though he trailed around behind some of the other Apostles in order to
acquire some of their stature. God’s call was to Paul personally. As evidence of this, he says
that following that call, he went away to the Southern desert region [“Arabia”] to reflect. Only
three years later did he eventually meet up with Peter, alias Cephas, the ‘Rock’, on what might be
called a courtesy visit to Jerusalem. The only other Apostle he met in Jerusalem was James,
who, as we discover elsewhere in the Acts, was president of the Jerusalem Christian community.
So Paul is not a second-rate Apostle; his call has been different, but it is still valid.
2. Day Mass. The First Reading tells of Peter being miraculously released from prison in
Jerusalem. This is not the only such story in the Acts: Paul and Silas are miraculously released
from prison in Philippi thanks to an earthquake (Acts 16). Rather than worrying over-much
about ‘how it happened’, we might do better to see in such stories a presentation by St. Luke, in
narrative form, of the essence of Jesus’ message: “the truth will make you free”. The truth is
not going to be chained up, or suppressed by petty tyrants like King Herod [Herod Agrippa,
Herod the Great’s grandson], who had already killed James, son of Zebedee – the first Apostle to
be put to death.
Second Reading: This comes from the concluding chapter of St. Paul’s second letter to his
disciple and companion, Timothy. While some have doubted whether the bulk of this letter is by
Paul personally, one cannot but see a great deal of urgency in the writing which is typical of Paul:
he urges Timothy to remain firm to the faith he has received, lest the Church be rocked when all
is meant to be put in order for the Last Day. Certainly the verses we read bear very much the
mark of a personal ‘last will and testament’.
Inserted into this passage, though omitted today, are commendations of two of Paul’s fellowworkers, Mark and Luke, and condemnations of two others, Demas and Alexander, who have
fallen away and are disrupting the work of the Gospel.