A Note from Fr. Dan

Saints Peter and Paul

Dear Parish Family,

The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul that we celebrate this weekend is one of the very few festivals that, when it falls on a Sunday, is celebrated in place of the Ordinary weekend.  Although they were very different people, that are celebrated together because both spent the last parts of the lives proclaiming the Gospel and both were martyred.  St. Peter is called the Apostle to the Jews; he was a fisherman and one of the first called by Jesus to follow Him.  Peter was the man who argues with Jesus when Jesus tells His disciples of His impending death.  Peter denies Jesus three times on the night of Jesus’ arrest, and it is Peter who the Lord asks three times, after the Resurrection if he loves the Lord, and is commissioned with feeding the Lord’s sheep.  It is to Peter that the Keys of the Kingdom are given, and it is Peter who becomes the first Pope.  Paul never knew the Lord during His public ministry, in fact Peter was present at the stoning of Stephen and death of Stephen.  Paul, a devout Pharisee, and a Roman citizen, made it his business to persecute the followers of the Lord; in fact on his way to Damascus to continue the persecution, has an experience of the Ascended Lord and subsequently becomes a great follower and herald of the Gospel.  Paul, called the Apostle to the Gentiles, goes on many missionary journeys, suffers multiple hardships, beatings and shipwrecks for the sake of the Gospel and eventually is martyred in Rome.  Both Peter and Paul are examples of the great transformation the grace of God can make in a person’s life, and the joy, and hardship, that bearing witness to Christ.  Neither is daunted by the world’s persecution because both have experienced the gift of grace, the joy of the gospel and the promise of the Kingdom of God.

God Bless, Fr. Dan