GOSPEL POWER | JUNE 29, 2021 | TUESDAY | Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Gospel: Mt 16: 13 – 19

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Reflection

The Church is a community of sinners who are recipients  of God’s mercy, of imperfect human beings relying on  God’s grace to bring them to perfection. Every member of  the Church can identify with its pillar-apostles, Peter and Paul, who  both committed great blunders in their lifetime. Peter disowned his  Lord in the face of crisis, and Paul violently tried to stamp out the  beginnings of Christianity. God did not withdraw his love from them,  but rather enveloped them in his mercy, thus enabling the sinners  that they are to become the saints and martyrs whom we venerate  today. Peter and Paul give us hope that the seemingly impossible  dream of holiness is also within our reach, by the grace of God. The  gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against the Church because  God’s mercy surrounds it and shields it

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you are the first grain of wheat to fall to the ground, to die,  and to yield a great harvest of martyrs. May the courageous examples of  your martyrs strengthen us in bearing witness to you today. Amen.