Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul
Introduction
The Lord built His Church on the foundation of the Apostles (Revelation 21:14).
Today we celebrate two of the greatest of the Apostles, Peter and Paul. Peter, the Rock, was the chief of the Apostles, their leader and our first Pope. Peter was executed in the reign of Nero sometime between A.D. 64 & 67. There is no historical evidence for the tradition that he was crucified, either upright or upside down; but this is no reason to discount the tradition. His tomb was believed, since before the time of Constantine, to have been under what we now call the Vatican. In 1968 Pope Paul VI announced that the skeletal remains of St. Peter had been found beneath the high altar.
Paul, the Pharisee who was converted on his trip to Damascus was also executed in
the reign of Nero, in A.D. 67 or 68. Possibly at the same time as St. Peter. The place of
martyrdom in local Roman tradition is the site of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Since he was a Roman citizen, the mode of execution according to the same tradition was decapitation.
Gospel – Matthew 16:13-19
Today’s reading takes place shortly after Jesus’ bread of life discourse. This places it just a little less than a year before His passion, death, and resurrection.
1st Reading – Acts 12:1-11
For today’s first reading we find ourselves in A.D. 45, some 15 years after Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection (and the beginning of the book of Acts). The point of this reading, a point made more than once in Acts, is to teach how futile are the attempts of even the powerful to stifle the preachers of God’s word.
2nd Reading – 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18
Second Timothy is widely believed to be St. Paul’s last letter, written from prison
shortly before his death. For this reason it is regarded as his spiritual testament. What we hear today is his charge to Timothy and his closing personal remarks.
