As a result, the proud Saul turned into Paul, a name that means âsmallâ. This must never happen to you” (Mt 16:22). Both were cut to the core by questions asked by Jesus: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” (Jn 21:15); “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). God’s Anointed kept bringing the Father’s love and mercy to the very end. Thinking back to their failures, they might have experienced feelings of guilt.
We would be amazed, like the maid who saw Peter at the gate and did not open it, but ran inside, astonished by the joy of seeing Peter (cf. Holiness is not a contest, but a question of entrusting our own poverty each day to the Lord, who does great things for those who are lowly.
Today we bless the pallia to be bestowed on the Dean of the College of Cardinals and the Metropolitan Archbishops named in the last year. Let us ask for the grace not to be lukewarm Christians living by half measures, allowing our love to grow cold. Peter heard Jesus’ question: “Who do you say I am?” (cf. %PDF-1.3 The readings we have just heard link us to the apostolic Tradition.
The witness, then, is not someone who knows the story of Jesus, but someone who has experienced a love story with Jesus.
Not words. From prayer they drew strength, from prayer came a unity more powerful than any threat. That was prophecy, the prophecy that changed history. Today we need prophecy, but real prophecy: not fast talkers who promise the impossible, but testimonies that the Gospel is possible.
It relates how the newly born Church was experiencing a moment of crisis: Herod was furious, a violent persecution had broken out, and the Apostle James had been killed. Remarkable people, but all of them dead.
Often we feel the temptation to be Christians by keeping a prudent distance from the Lord’s wounds. Jesus, the Anointed One, walked from village to village with the sole aim of saving and helping those considered lost. Jesus does not care about polls, past history or statistics. ON THE SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES. So Christ prayed on the eve of his passion, and today we celebrate the perfect fulfilment of his Prayer in the lives of Saints Peter and Paul.
Prophecy is born whenever we allow ourselves to be challenged by God, not when we are concerned to keep everything quiet and under control. It is born if we allow ourselves to be challenged by God.
God expects that when we pray we will also be mindful of those who do not think as we do, those who have slammed the door in our face, those whom we find it hard to forgive. After all that happened, he put his trust in them, in one who denied him and one who persecuted his followers, in two repentant sinners. On the feast of the two Apostles of this City, I would like to share with you two key words: unity and prophecy.
Ed Scolding. God expects that when we pray we will also be mindful of those who do not think as we do, those who have slammed the door in our face, those whom we find it hard to forgive. Mt 16:15). They did not talk about Peter behind his back; they talked to God.
Jesus is not the past, but the present and the future. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2020/documents/papa-francesco_20200629_omelia-pallio.html. Gal 2:11). Peter & Paul, Sunday 29 June 2014.
It is found in the last book of the Bible, where Jesus promises his faithful witnesses âa white stone, on which a new name is writtenâ (Rev 2:17).
Saint Peter’s Basilica Monday, 29 June 2020 . Paul wrote that he was “least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle” (1 Cor 15:9). Unity. Today too, in accordance with a fine tradition, we are united in a particular way with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. 2 Tim 4:6).
5 0 obj Today our joy is shared, in accordance with a fine tradition, by a Delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, whose members I greet with affection.
By not separating his glory from the cross, Jesus wants to liberate his disciples, his Church, from empty forms of triumphalism: forms empty of love, service, compassion, empty of people.
Let us notice something else: at that dramatic moment, no one complained about Herod’s evil and his persecution. Then start serving and be quiet. And there they are: Peter and Paul, prophets who look to the future. %�쏢 We need lives that show the miracle of Godâs love.
Unity. In that community, no one said: “If Peter had been more careful, we would not be in this situation”. Paul’s life changed after a similar challenge from Jesus: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). ON THE SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES.
Peter and Andrew were brothers, and, whenever possible, we exchange fraternal visits on our respective feast days. V}��������� J��!.�y�?����� OI�wƁ9�"[��S\��n�W��[ڙ%�������&p�6��as�B��lx���6����}�qn�dV����h'��c{����6��_���dNy3d�\�����u��Ժo5��i�1��6��O釧��3��NI��W�U��P>����'�� u�-_~�$t��\��,N-�����$��x`��n0/TD��S{��=��% \�5��GH�U'�&/�C������(����~r�� ���u�$�G��Y����&e�(�1�#JL:�d���?��?���Gۮh��Y�Ҩ�@��5Nfe�5~ #�`z��:� Let us rediscover who we truly are through a daily relationship with Jesus and through the power of his forgiveness. We do so not only out of courtesy, but as a means of journeying together towards the goal that the Lord points out to us: that of full unity. Or do we simply talk, abuse and do nothing? Todayâs first reading brings us to the source of this unity. This merciful love demands that we too go forth to every corner of life, to reach out to everyone, even though this may cost us our “good name”, our comforts, our status… even martyrdom. Jn 1:41), and Paul was “zealous for the traditions of [his] ancestors” (Gal 1:14). We are also in www.fb.com/Catholicsstrivingforholiness. Before his beheading, Paul thought only of offering his life; he wrote that he wanted to be “poured out like a libation” (2 Tim 4:6).
For together, reconciled to God and having forgiven one another, we are called to bear witness to Jesus by our lives. In today’s Gospel, the Lord asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The answers evoke figures of the past: “John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets”. Humanly, they had failed. In Jesus, glory and the cross go together; they are inseparable. They were no longer content with half-measures, but embraced the only measure possible for those who follow Jesus: that of boundless love. When they went forth on mission, Peter spoke to Jews, and Paul to pagans. On the feast of the two Apostles of this City, I would like to share with you two key words: unity and prophecy. No one.
Amen. We could not do so today because of the difficulty of travel due to the coronavirus, but when I went to venerate the remains of Peter, in my heart I felt my beloved brother Bartholomew. POPE FRANCIS: FIND THE CURE FOR CORONAVIRUS, AND FOR THE GREAT HUMAN AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC VIRUSES. That was prophecy, the prophecy that changed history. Peter immediately told Jesus: “I am a sinful man” (Lk 5:8). As a result, the proud Saul turned into Paul, a name that means “small”. This is the cantus firmus that we are called daily to intone. On the feast of the two Apostles of this City, I would like to share with you two key words: unity and prophecy. HOLY MASS AND BLESSING OF THE SACRED PALLIUMFOR THE NEW METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOPSON THE SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLESHOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCISSaint Peter’s BasilicaMonday, 29 June 2020.
Your presence, dear brothers, reminds us that we can spare no effort also in the journey towards full unity among believers, in communion at every level. Jesus touches human misery and he asks us to join him in touching the suffering flesh of others. Here they gave their ultimate witness, offering their lives as martyrs. It is a sign that the shepherds do not live for themselves but for the sheep.
Saints Peter and Paul’s Story. Yet at that tragic moment no one ran away, no one thought about saving his own skin, no one abandoned the others, but all joined in prayer. Paul was always fond of his name, which means “little”, and left behind his birth name, Saul, the name of the first king of his people. WEDNESDAY DEVOTION TO OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP AND ST. JOSEPH, MASTER OF INTERIOR LIFE. A word that points not to the past, but to the future: the Messiah is the one who is awaited, he is newness, the one who brings God’s anointing to the world. Like Peter, we as a Church will always be tempted to hear those “whisperings” of the evil One, which will become a stumbling stone for the mission.
Mt 16:19). It is born if we allow ourselves to be challenged by God. He wants to set his Church free from grand illusions that fail to sink their roots in the life of God’s faithful people or, still worse, believe that service to the Lord means turning aside from the dusty roads of history.
PRAYERS TO ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS (ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX). Before his beheading, Paul thought only of offering his life; he wrote that he wanted to be âpoured out like a libationâ (2 Tim 4:6).
We today can ask: “Are we protecting our unity, our unity in the Church, with prayer? He is not a distant personage to be remembered, but the one to whom Peter can speak intimately: You are the Christ. He is not attracted by our goodness; that is not why he loves us. The Christ, that is, the Messiah. Peter is the first to proclaim that Jesus is âthe Christ, the Son of the living Godâ (Mt 16:16). No one. Do you want to be a prophet of my heaven on earth?â Brothers and sisters, let us be challenged by Jesus, and find the courage to say to him: âYes, I do!â, HOLY MASS AND BLESSING OF THE SACRED PALLIUM. In this way, he immediately becomes a stumbling stone in the Messiah’s path. Brothers and sisters, in the presence of these witnesses, let us ask: “Do I renew daily my own encounter with Jesus?” We may be curious about Jesus, or interested in Church matters or religious news. Peter is the first to proclaim that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). Just as the Lord turned Simon into Peter, so he is calling each one of us, in order to make us living stones with which to build a renewed Church and a renewed humanity. Paulâs life changed after a similar challenge from Jesus: âSaul, Saul, why do you persecute me?â (Acts 9:4). When the Gospel overturns certainties, prophecy arises. Jesus takes up that question and asks it of his disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15). That was prophecy.
Jesus is Paul’s present and his future, so much so that he considers the past as refuse in comparison to the surpassing knowledge of Christ (cf. Acts 12:10-17). Now Peter makes his great confession of faith: “You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29b). 27th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A MASS PRAYERS AND READINGS. To seek not the approval of this world, of being comfortable with everyone - here we say: âbeing comfortable with God and the devilâ, being comfortable with everyone -; no, this is not prophecy.
Today’s first reading brings us to the source of this unity. x��]ۯ&�m�&�mcl���9ݴ������]�c��@����S������@I]F�����ąr���H�H���+������/��!�������_����K����K�P����C0f�����_��㋛[|�����?�=�%&���OnO�/������),�N���K ފ�ܞ�b�Yy�Cx�,�kC������� ~_� That is how Peter and Paul preached Jesus, as men in love with God. Peter died crucified upside down, since he did not consider himself worthy to imitate his Lord. Just as he asked Peter, Jesus is now asking us: “Who do you say that I am?”, “Do you love me?” Let us allow these words to penetrate our hearts and inspire us not to remain content with a minimum, but to aim for the heights, so that we too can become living witnesses to Jesus.
That was prophecy. That is how Peter and Paul preached Jesus, as men in love with God. It makes me sad when I hear someone say, âWe want a prophetic Churchâ. Not words. There are always those who destroy unity and stifle prophecy, yet the Lord believes in us and he asks you: “Do you want to be a builder of unity?
“But this governor is…”, and there are many adjectives.