One page synopsis of Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29, 2025)

St. Peter and St. Paul are the principal pillars of the Church. That is why this Sunday (June 29th), we celebrate the feast of their martyrdom, replacing the normal readings for the Thirteenth Sunday [C] in Ordinary Time

Peter was son of Jona and brother of Andrew. He was a professional fisherman from Bethsaida, a fishing town on the Lake of Galilee (Gennesaret). He might have been a follower of John the Baptist. It was his brother Andrew who introduced him to Jesus, and Jesus who changed his name from Simon to Cephas or Peter. Jesus made him the leader of his apostles. At Caesarea Philippi Jesus promised to make him the head of his Church, and the risen Jesus confirmed Peter’s precedence. It was the Ho ly Sprit Who inspired Peter’s Proclamation of the Good News to all in Jerusalem on the day of the Pentecost bringing the Church into living action. Peter made missionary journeys to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea and convened the first Council in Jerusalem. Peter wrote two epistles addressed to the whole Church. He was martyred by crucifixion under the emperor Nero.

Paul the “Apostle to the Gentiles” and the greatest missionary was a Roman citizen by birth as he was born in Tarsus of Cilicia, a Province of Rome. His original name was Saul. He was trained as a tent-maker and practiced that trade. As a Pharisee he was sent to Jerusalem by his parents to study the Mosaic Law under the great Rabbi Gamaliel. Well-versed in the Scriptures, he became a religious fanatic and was ready to destroy the Christian faith. When Stephen was stoned to death by Jewish fanatics, Saul was there to support them. But he was miraculously converted on his way to Damascus to arrest the Christians. He made several missionary journeys, converted hundreds of Jews and Gentiles and established Church communities. He wrote 14 epistles. He was arrested and kept in prison for two years in Caesarea and two more years in Rome. Finally, he was martyred by beheading at Tre Fontane in Rome. Let us pray for the apostolic zeal and missionary spirit of Saints Peter & Paul.

Solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul, Apostles (June 29, 2025) Vigil: Acts 3:1-10; Gal 1:11-20; Jn:21:15-19; Sunday: Acts 12:1-11; 1Tm 4:6-8; Mt 16:13-19

Homily starter anecdotes: 1) “Quo Vadis, Domine?” There is a legend about Saint Peter’s encounter with Jesus Christ during the persecution of Christians in Rome by Emperor Nero. Fleeing Rome on the advice of many Church memberswho saw him as indespensible to the continuance of the Church, Peter headed out the Via Appia for the countryside. There  Peter he encountered Jesus, who who was heading toward the city of Rome to face the persecution. “Quo vadis, Domine?” Peter asks – “Lord, where are you going?” “I am going to Rome to be crucified,” Jesus answers – and disappears. A very ashamed Peter stopped and returned to Rome to face his martyrdom bravely, knowing the Churh would continue.. Tradition teaches us he was crucified at the foot of Vatican Hill and was buiried there.  St. Peter’s Basilica was constructed over that site, and Peter’s remains are buried directly under the High Altar.    The event is recorded in the apocryphal Acts of Peter and depicted in Annibale Carracci’s 1602 painting “Peter’s Meeting with Christ. The Latin phrase Quo Vadis denotes an episode from the life of Saint Peter, as told in the New Testament Apocrypha and the ‘Golden Legend’. The Church of Domine Quo Vadis (“Lord, where are you going?”) is located on the spot where tradition says St. Peter, had a vision of the risen Christ. Many people derive their understanding of the above events from the 1951 MGM film Quo Vadis, based on Henryk Sienkiewicz’s novel Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero, which has been translated into more than 50 languages. This novel contributed to Sienkiewicz winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905.

2) The conversion of St. Paul: Born in the Roman Province of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is now known as Turkey, Saul had the opportunity to study under the great Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem. Well-versed in the Scriptures and the kind of debating practices among scholars of the Law, he became a zealous, active defender of the Law, and was ready to destroy the Christian faith as blasphemy and idolatry.  Too young to take part in the stoning of Stephen, the Church’s first martyr, he assisted by holding the cloaks of the formal stoners.  Immediately after the martyrdom of Stephen, Paul got actively involved in persecuting the Christians. However, while he was on his way to Damascus to find all the Christians (whom he saw as renegade Jews) and put in chains to be brought to Jerusalem for trial, he saw a light from Heaven so brilliant that he fell to the ground, blinded.  As Saul fell to the ground, he heard the voice of Jesus asking him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Immediately Saul, shaken, asked, “Who are you, Lord?” Jesus said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do” (Acts 9:5-6). Paul was without sight for three days, and he remained neither eating nor drinking, struggling with the knowledge that his zeal had led him to attack the Lord God, and finally surrendering into Faith that Jesus was GOD Himself and that he, Saul, had been spiritually blind all this while.  At that point, Ananias, a disciple in Damascus, was sent by the Lord Jesus to Paul with instructions to heal and baptize Paul. Ananias objected, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, whot evil things he has done to Your Holy Oned in Jerusalem. And her he has autohority from the chief priests to imprisonall who call upon Your Name!” Jesus responded, “Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry My Name before Gentiles, Kings and Israelitess, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for My Name”  (Acts 9:15-16). As directed by Jesus, Ananias went to Paul, helped him recover his sight and baptized him. Thus, Paul was totally converted to the Lord Jesus. Paul continued his ministry even in the face of opposition and persecution. Opposition and Intense suffering did not stop Paul from preaching. He only asked the believers to pray for him to be given greater power to carry out his mission faithfully. He writes to the Ephesians, “Pray also for me so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak” (Eph 6:19-20). Paul had a great passion for spreading the message of Jesus because he loved Jesus with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength. In fact, he truly believed of himself that  “it is no longer I that live but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). The fourteen epistles Paul wrote also testify to the passion with which he proclaimed the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. As we celebrate the feast of his Conversion, let us remember to join him in spreading the message of Jesus with great passion and commitment as he did. (Fr. Jose P CMI, Florida.)

Today’s Gospel: Apostles: Ss. Peter & Paul: Mt 16:13-19:  13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth  shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men.”

 The context: Today’s gospel passage is the first of the three times when Jesus foretold his passion, death and resurrection. It consists of two sections, the messianic confession of Peter and the prediction of his Passion by Jesus

Jesus as Christ our Lord and Savior: Today’s Gospel explains the basis of our faith as the acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, our Lord and Savior. It also tells us that Christ Jesus became our Savior by his suffering and death and resurrection. This famous profession of Faith by Peter took place at Caesarea Philippi, at present called Banias, twenty-five miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus realized that if his disciples did not know who he really was, then his entire ministry, suffering and death would be useless. Hence, he decided to ask a question in two parts. 1) “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” 2) “But who do you say that I am?” Their answer to the first question was: “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Peter volunteered to answer the second question saying: “You are the Christ (Messiah) the Son of the living God.” Jesus confirmed Peter’s insight as a special revelation from God. “No mere man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”

Life messages: 1) Let us experience Jesus as our Lord and Savior and surrender our life to him. We experience Jesus as personal savior by listening to him through the daily, meditative reading of the Bible, by talking to him through daily, personal and family prayers, by offering him our lives on the altar in frequenting Holy Mass, by being reconciled to Him every night when we ask his pardon and forgiveness for our sins and by receiving the sacrament of reconciliation whenever we are in mortal sin. 2) The next step is the surrender of our lives to Jesus by rendering humble and loving service to others with the strong conviction that Jesus is present in every person. 3) Let us grow in the faith and loyalty of Peter and acquire the missionary zeal of St. Paul (Fr. Tony)

Jokes of the week: 1) A cab driver arrives in heaven. St. Peter gives him a gold staff and a silk white robe, and sent him on to his reward. Waiting next in line was a Preacher. St. Peter looks at the record, furrows his brow, and says, “We will let you in, but take this wood staff and this cloth robe.” The preacher was shocked. “I was a man of the cloth. I faithfully preached every week. Why does a cabbie get rewarded higher than a preacher?” “Up here we reward results,” St Peter replied. “Whenever you preached, people prayed!”

2. “Jesus certainly wasn’t from Alabama!” A little girl from Alabama went to church for the first time ever when she was visiting her non-Catholic grandparents in Michigan. When the pastor announced it was time for the Lord’s Supper, she was excited – and hungry. The congregation filed up to the altar rail, and the child watched in confusion as her grandparents received a wafer and small plastic cup of wine. She could hardly wait to get back to the pew to tell her grandma, “Jesus certainly wasn’t from Alabama!” “How do you know that, dear?” asked her grandma. “Because that was the poorest meal I’ve ever seen,” she said. “Mama would’ve at least given everybody some corn bread and sweet tea.”

USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK (For homilies & Bible study groups) (The easiest method  to visit these websites is to copy and paste the web address or URL on the Address bar of any Internet website like Google or MSN and press the Enter button of your Keyboard).

1) Fr. Nick’s collection of Sunday homilies from 65 priests & weekday homilies:https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies

2) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org/featured-homilies/ (Copy it on the Address bar and press the Enter button)

3) Fr. Geoffrey Plant’s beautiful & scholarly video classes on Sunday gospel, Bible & RCIA topics:   https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant20663)

4) Dr. Brant Pitre’s commentary on Cycle  B  Sunday Scripture for Bible Class:https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/mass-readings-explained-year-Biblical basis of Catholic doctrines: http://scripturecatholic.com/

5) Agape Catholic Bible Lessons: http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/

6) Father’s advice to his son in law before giving his daughter in marriage; (Hilarious videoillustrating the role of the Trinitarian God in marriage)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eqEkPjUbmIA

7)Catholic doctrines in short videos; http://thatcatholicshow.sqpn.com/

8) Catholic pages Directory: http://www.catholic-pages.com/dir/default.asp

9) The Catholic Liturgical Calendar page: http://www.easterbrooks.com/personal/calendar/index.php

10) Fr. Don’s video homily collections: https://sundayprep.org/prep-videos/   

 11) Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant: https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066

 “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No 37) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visithttps://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under CBCI or  Fr. Tony for my website version. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html-which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020)  )  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Fr. Anthony Kadavil, C/o Fr. Joseph  M. C. , St. Agatha Church, 1001 Hand Avenue, Bay Minette, Al 36507