With Opened Bible

Saints Peter and Paul, despite their differences, are two faces of the same Church, a beautiful testament to the unity in diversity that our faith embodies.

The solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul takes us back to a time when many men and women, with unwavering courage, bore the ultimate witness to Christ through their martyrdom. Their bravery in the face of persecution is a shining example for us all. Witnessing Jesus is a dangerous act in a world afraid of the truth. But "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. "(Matthew 5:11). The sheep must follow where the Shepherd enters, that is, through the gate of sacrifice and martyrdom.

Peter was the Galilean fisherman who became "the primus inter pares" (first among his brothers) because of his witness to Christ. He identified Jesus for who he is: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood* has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:16-18) Thus, Jesus made him the visible Leader of the Flock, a sign of the unity of the Church.

Paul, on the other hand, was a soldier of the Temple. He fiercely protected the Tradition of his Fathers and the Law of Moses. He also persecuted all those who claimed to be followers of Christ. Jesus chose him and made him the Apostle to the Gentles. “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them.” (Romans 11,13-14; Cf. Romans 15,16) He lost everything to gain the Supreme gif, Jesus Christ. "Whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss* because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have accepted the loss of all things, and I consider them so much rubbish that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8)

With Peter, the image of authority, and Paul, the image of ministry, we celebrate today what Jesus gave to his Church. The keys of apostolic authority and the sword of the prophetc Word are the two pillars on which our Church rests. May the names of Peter and Paul be celebrated with joy and thanksgiving