The solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 2021

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.

Although St. Paul wrote the above lines in his Second Letter to Timothy, St. Peter could have written them as well, for both Apostles worked zealously for the spread of the Gospel.  Both men passionately loved the Lord Jesus.  We see his love on his rash promise, on Holy Thursday, to die for the Lord (a promise he made good on about thirty years later) and in his running to the tomb after hearing that the Lord’s Body was not there.  We see Paul’s love for the Lord in deeply touching reflections such as, “For to me, to live is Christ: and to die is gain” (Philippians 1, 21).

“I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation.”  A “libation” was a drink offering poured out to a god on an altar.  The wine or other drink was completely emptied out, with the priest or attendant shaking the vessel so that not a drop was missing.  Paul feels as though he has nothing left to give, that he is empty.  He has been poured out by God in service to God.  True sanctity is to give oneself to God even when there is nothing left to give — friends, family, health is gone.  There remains no reason to praise God or to thank him except for his own sake.  Peter and Paul, through their extensive travels, various persecutions, arrests, beatings, and their endless work of preaching and leading the churches they founded, had arrived at this point at the time of their final arrests.  “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me.”  Paul says this to Timothy in order to give him an example to follow.  Paul saw his work as a competition, even as a race.  He ran, knowing that his eternal salvation depended on his “winning” the race, that is, in finishing all the work that God gave him.  He knew full well how great the work lay before him, for at the beginning of his conversion, God said to Ananias, a Christian of Damascus, “For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9, 16).  Likewise, Peter knew that suffering lay ahead of him in his service to the Lord: “When you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird you and lead you where you would not” (John 21, 28).  “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed.”  Throughout the Acts of the Apostles we can see how the Lord strengthened both Peter and Paul so that they could rejoice that they had suffered for Christ.  Both men were on the point of being killed by mobs or the authorities multiple times, and both were rescued “from the lion’s mouth” in order to continue preaching.  

We know much from the Scriptures about the journeys of Paul throughout Syria, Asia Minor, and Rome.  Peter worked in Jerusalem for some years, while also preaching in cities and towns throughout Syria and Asia Minor, especially in Antioch, where he remained for a few years.  Afterwards he went to Rome, where he spent the rest of his life.  St. Jerome tells us that that this occurred in the year 42.  We do not know whether Peter and Paul met in Rome, though legends circulating in subsequent centuries say that they preached together and engaged in debate with Simon Magus, the magician mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.  According to the Fathers, especially, Tertullian and Origen, Peter was crucified head downwards during the reign of Nero, and Paul, a Roman citizen, was accorded execution by beheading.  Both suffered in about the year 67.