The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Wednesday, June 29, 2022

2 Timothy 4, 6–8; 17–18

I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.  The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

St. Paul wrote these words towards the end of his life on earth, but St. Peter could have also penned them with a few exceptions.  Both men had endured great hardship for decades to spread the Gospel.  By the time Paul writes this Letter to St. Timothy, he has reached his sixties, as has Peter.  This was not an extreme age for a working man of the time, but the years would have shone in the grooved lines on their faces, the scars on their hands, and by the welts on their backs from the beatings they had suffered.  

To look closely at these two men is to look at reflections of the Lord Jesus, for they served him with all their hearts.  We see the young fisherman who already owned his boat and who made a good, steady living from the Sea of Galilee.  He left this and his family at the call of the Lord, returning only in following the Lord.  What drove him to do this?  What intensity pounded in his heart so that he would leave all things for Jesus?  As with St. Paul, Peter could say, “To me, life is Christ and to die in gain” (Philippians 1, 21).

St. Paul was born in Tarsus, in southern Asia Minor and was raised in Jerusalem.  Since he worked as a tent-maker his father may very well have made tents as well.  He studied in Jerusalem under the wise Pharisee Gamaliel, but seems not to have seen the Lord Jesus during the Lord’s three years of ministry.  The first we hear of Paul, he is known as Saul of Tarsus, and he adamantly opposes the Gospel.  He even gets himself appointed by the Sanhedrin to persecute the believers in Jesus both in Israel and in other countries.  He experienced a very dramatic conversion, and from that time on he preached on behalf of Jesus even more ardently than he had worked against him, not sparing himself in any way.  What did he see on the road to Damascus? What made him such a relentless Apostle?

We can understand a little through prayer and the study of their lives.  We can understand more through our daily and continual perseverance in the Faith.