Although Ss. Peter and Paul lived 2000 years ago, we can feel we know them. Two distinct personalities, two different characters, but – here’s the point – both transformed by faith in Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God; both proclaimers of the Gospel; both pillars, founders, spiritual fathers of the Church; both linked to Rome where both were martyred. Thinking of them, an early Christian wrote: “How blessed is the Church of Rome, on which the Apostles poured out all their doctrine along with their blood!” (Tertullian, De Praescriptione Hereticorum 36). It’s this gift of themselves to the Church, the word of their preaching and the eucharist of their martyrdoms, their doctrine and blood, we remember today. Thanks to this and to their ongoing intercession, the Church of Rome and its bishop retain a special place and role in the Catholic Christian world.
Didn’t recent events in Rome confirm this? The Lord is always building up his Church on the rock of Peter, but suddenly this became very visible. I’m thinking of the days between the passing of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo. St Peter’s arrest, imprisonment and rescue in the 1st reading, set just after Passover / Easter, was a kind of death and resurrection for him and the Church in Jerusalem. It was their share in the Paschal mystery of Christ. And so was what we lived this year between Easter Sunday on 20 April and the 8th of May. On Easter Sunday, Pope Francis managed his last words and blessing: Buona Pasqua, Happy Easter – the heart of the Christian message. On Easter Monday he passed to the Lord. On Easter Saturday, 26 April, his funeral was held, with his burial in our Lady’s Basilica, and the 9 days of mourning began, with a different cardinal leading the prayers for each. All was well done. Meanwhile the cardinals gathered to prepare for the conclave, to know each other better, to share their thoughts on the needs of the Church. Here, just as in the reading, was the whole church praying. And then, invoking the Holy Spirit, the Cardinals went into conclave. Speculation fluttered around like the pigeons. Some said the conclave would be long, full of divisions, but by God’s grace the new Peter was revealed. Habemus Papam. And Leo XIV appeared on the balcony with the words of the Easter Christ, “Peace be with you.” Thanks to the media coverage, millions of people throughout the world were caught up in these events, many of them not Catholic, not Christian. It was clear how many, and not only believers, feel the Pope to be a father. Speculation fell away before reality. There was a sense of peace and reassurance. The Lord’s promise that the gates of hell would not prevail was verified again. In a time when so much is sordid and erratic and antagonistic and uncertain, here were dignity, good order, fellowship and answered prayer. The wings of the divine Dove touched the world and the voice of Peter rang out: “God loves us. God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! All of us are in God’s hands. So, let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another! We are followers of Christ. Christ goes before us.” And we were consoled.
This is a Jubilee Year dedicated to hope. A year for rediscovering the hope of the Gospel and allowing it further into our minds and hearts.
In today’s 2nd reading, St Paul, speaking at the end of his life, gives us his own personal testimony of hope. It’s to him Christianity owes this triad of faith, hope and love, each linked to the other. “The Lord will rescue me from every evil and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom,” he says. Here is the core of Christian hoping. For St Paul, it looks forward to the heavenly kingdom, to the appearing (epiphany) of Christ, with all the divine and human fulfilment that comes with it: things that eye has not seen or heard, things beyond the mind if man. But here and now, on our pilgrim way, hope is kept alive by the Holy Spirit. It’s the confidence that we – and others – will be helped to complete the journey. “The Lord will rescue me”, he says. “The Lord stood by me and strengthened me”. It’s a hope validated by experience. Hope does not disappoint, he says elsewhere. It gives trust, courage, patience, joy. It allows for suffering, it knows there are dark passages in life or failures for which we can only blame ourselves, but it refuses to confine our existence to them. It knows we lose our loved ones and see them die, but Paul would not have us “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13). We know “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (v. 14). Even if all the strings of our harp or violin seem broken, the Holy Spirit can still elicit music from us. Even when we can’t pray, the Spirit can still intercede (cf. Rom 8:26). Even if we can only groan, it’s with the whole creation as it waits for redemption (cf. Rom 8:22-23). Hope saves us, he says, and we await its fulfilment with patience (cf. Rom 8:24-25).
St Paul often goes back to the Genesis stories of Abraham and Sarah. We can too. Here’s an elderly couple, past it in every sense, and the Lord makes them reckless impossible promises: a child to begin with and from him more descendants than stars in the sky. There are signs Abraham struggled to accept this; certainly, Sarah laughed when she overheard the three strange visitors telling her husband about it. But it isn’t smart to sneer at the Trinity; the Trinity will have the last laugh – in Isaac and beyond. The promise to clapped-out, burned-out Abraham and Sarah is still being fulfilled, the children of Abraham are still multiplying. Every Easter celebrates this. God’s creativity, God’s imagination, let’s say, is not measured by our small-mindedness. How often we hear of holy people on their deathbeds suddenly looking up with joyful astonishment on their faces. Abraham looked up at the stars. He “believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness”. St Paul loved that line. Abraham believed, hoped against hope, and gave joy to God by doing so; that’s what righteousness is. When death came for Peter and Paul, if they looked back how they must have wondered at the Lord’s guiding of their lives, and when they looked forward, well…
St Peter, St Paul pray for Pope Leo, pray for the Church and the world, pray for us pilgrims, that hope be alive in us and be our gift to others!
Solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul, Pluscarden Abbey, 29 June 2025
