Sermons & Homilies
These luminaries are actually and chronologically our “Fathers among the Saints,” who have begotten us through the Gospel throughout time, us who were living among the dead. They are the fountainhead after whom the Holy Spirit has coursed through the ages of men, that fountain of living water bringing life and light to all men who live in a dry and deserted place. Out of this righteous pair grows that tree of righteousness, which the Preacher says will flourish, the root of which shall not be moved and the fruit of which becomes a tree of life to those of us, barren of all good works.
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The Lord, when He spoke to His disciples the words recorded in the Gospel reading appointed for this Sunday, was only a few days away from His saving Passion and Resurrection. He had only a few short days left in which to say that which was most needful for their salvation, and for the salvation of those of us who would come to believe through them. And in this one brief passage, our Savior declares to us the great and fearful mystery of our lives as Christians on this earth.
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Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Apostles Peter & Paul. These two men were chosen by Christ God to stand in the very forefront of the ranks of the holy apostles, and indeed of all the saints throughout the history of the whole world. As we gather to celebrate their holy memorial, it is necessary that we seek to understand—insofar as it is possible—why the Lord chose to glorify precisely these two men, exalting them to the greatest of spiritual heights and through them enlightening all the ends of the earth with the light of the Gospel.
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The Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, like the Evangelist John, was one of the twelve Apostles, whereas the Evangelists Mark and Luke were of the Seventy.
The feast of the holy, glorious and all-praised leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul was instituted by Pope Sixtus II, Bishop of Rome (commemorated on August 10) on June 29, 258.[i] It is observed in memory of the fact that the Apostles fasted before they went out to preach.[ii]
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