Dear friends, My Homily for Solemnity: St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles (ABC) 2014. OUR MISSIONARY SUCCESS COMES FROM GODS GRACE Christ chose St Peter to be the first pope, to be, as he said in todays Gospel, the rock upon which he would build his Church (Mt. 4:18-20, 16:17-19). But Peter denied our Lord three times the night Jesus was arrested, before the rooster crowed. He betrayed his Lord, Savior, and friend when being questioned by a mere servant girl (Mt. 26:69-75).Thats hardly the kind of dependability you would expect from a rock. Christ chose St Paul to be the Churchs first and greatest missionary.And yet, Paul started out as the leader of a violent persecution designed to crush the infant Church soon after Christs ascension (Acts 6:8-15; 7:54-60; 8:1-3).But Christ chose him to announce the Gospel all over the ancient world, planting Christian communities in dozens of cities for almost thirty years (Acts 9:15-16).And he didnt choose Paul because he was such a great public speaker and charismatic leader.He was short, bow-legged, skinny, and had a weak and whiney voice. Pauls critics despised him because His bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account (2 Cor. 10:10).How did these two men, so flawed, so human, become the two unshakable pillars of the Catholic Church?What transformed them into saints, martyrs, and history-makers?Gods grace: the same grace that has kept the Church alive and growing for twenty centuries; the same grace we all received at baptism.On todays Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul, God wants to remind us that our success and fulfillment as Christians depends more on his grace than our efforts.What a relief! PETER AND PAUL REFLECT THE CHURCH OF CHRIST Only the power of God could have freed Peter from the depths of that dark prison as we heard in todays First reading. What Peter had to do was believe, cooperate and obey. St Paul never forgot that he was only Gods instrument, that God himself was the one who made his work fruitful and beneficial. Looking back on his life, he is glad that he has stayed faithful to his mission. Each had to freely choose to be faithful to Christ and Christs will for his life - day after day, year after year till death. We are Peter and Paul.We are the missionary Church.Our sins and selfishness are the chains that bind us to frustration and anxiety. The devil and the sinful world are the guards that hold us back from spiritual freedom. And by our own strength we can do nothing to escape. It is Gods grace, freely given to us in Christ, that forgives our sins,enlightens our confusion,strengthens us against temptation,and leads us to a truly fulfilling life,starting here on earth and reaching its pinnacle in heaven. The Lord stands by us and gives us strength, so that through us the proclamation might be completed. It wasnt Peter or Paul achieving things on his own; it was God working through each of them. We are rescued from the lions mouth, that is, the devil, the tempter. The Church recognizes that she couldnt have resisted temptation by depending on her own strength alone - she needed God to rescue her.And she still needs Gods help to face her final challenge. The successful attainment of eternal life will come from the same source that gave success to the Apostles arduous mission on earth: their own human efforts and prayers bolstered and sustained by Gods unfailing grace. SOLVING THE CHRISTIAN PARADOX BY WORK AND PRAYER From here on earth, this seems like a paradox.First God asks us to follow him and strive for the wisdom, holiness, and happiness that come from following him.But then he tells us that without him we can do nothing (John 15:5).St Ignatius of Loyola discovered a perfect formula for dealing with this paradox.He said that we should pray as if everything is up to God, and work as if everything is up to us.We all want to become mature, wise, joyful Christians.And so we have to pray, to seek wisdom and grace by meditating on the Scriptures, by receiving well the sacraments, by begging every day for Gods help.But at the same time, we have to work at it.We have to take up our crosses each day: making an effort to overcome our tendencies to laziness, arrogance, impatience, self-centeredness, and over-indulgence (Gal. 5:19-21).We have to pray for the salvation of sinners, but then we have to reach out to our neighbors with our words, our example, and an invitation to come and meet Christ (Gal. 5:22-26). If we work without praying, we will be like dry riverbeds, because we wont have any of Gods grace flowing through our lives.If we pray without working, we will be like stagnant, smelly ponds,because we will have no outlet for the grace we receive.This week, lets follow in the footsteps of Peter and Paul, who worked hard, but depended more on God than themselves.Lets make St Ignatius maxim our own: Ill pray, each day, as if everything were up to God(Mt.Luke 11:9, 13), and Ill work as if everything is up to me(Luke 17:21).
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 19:08:57 +0000
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