After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith’’
(At 15, 7-9)
But when [God], who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles...I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas. (Gal 1, 15-16a. 17b-18a).
Meditation
We have received from St. Peter and St. Paul the most authoritative and venerable form of Christ’s message. From them we have so many unforgettable pages of the New Testament, from them the faith. Not so much for the geographical and historical place in which it took root and from which it radiated (cf. Rom. 1, 8), but for the authority that it professes and the unitary character that it has. It is called Roman, not to be limited here, but to better qualify itself as Catholic. Love for the Apostles Peter and Paul will help us to understand better how firm and filial fidelity to this blessed Roman See of theirs does not restrict the universal dimensions of the Church of Christ, nor does it mortify the vitality and originality of the communities spread throughout the world. It does not impose superfluous and heavy juridical constraints but, rather, it lays the firm and sure foundation of the ecclesiastical building, offers the honourable and indisputable point of Catholic unity and nourishes the charity of the Christian family (Saint Paul VI, General Audience, 28 June 1966).
Saints Peter and Paul by Jusepe de Ribera (c. 1616)
Invocations
Lord, you prayed for Peter, that his faith might not fail, confirm the faith of your Church.
St. Peter and St. Paul, united in the glory of Heaven, pray for us
After the Resurrection you appeared to Simon Peter and manifested yourself to Paul on the road to Damascus. Enlighten our minds, so that we can recognize in you the Son of the living God.
St. Peter and St. Paul, united in the glory of Heaven, pray for us
You elected Paul an apostle, to proclaim your name to the Gentiles. Make us witnesses and proclaimers of the Gospel.
St. Peter and St. Paul, united in the glory of Heaven, pray for us
You have forgiven the Apostle Peter who had denied you three times; forgive us all our trespasses.
St. Peter and St. Paul, united in the glory of Heaven, pray for us.
Our Father,
Hail Mary,
Glory be
PRAYER
O God, who gladdens us with the solemn celebration of St. Peter and St. Paul, let your Church always follow the teaching of the apostles from whom she received the first proclamation of the faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who is God, and who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.