This Monday, June 29, is the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul. It might seem odd, given the importance of these two saints, that they share a feast day. But we also remember that each does have a feast day on which the Church honors them individually – The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter (2/22), and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (1/25). But the Church considers their shared day a more important celebration, enjoying the elevated status of “solemnity.”
Pope Benedict XVI once observed that “Christian tradition has always considered St. Peter and St. Paul to be inseparable.” The frescoes that decorate the facade of the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome depict events from the lives of both saints. In front of St. Peter’s Basilica there is a statue of St. Peter depicted holding keys, and one of St. Paul carrying a sword. The pope noted that Romans have always understood Peter and Paul as a counterbalance to Romulus and Remus, the mythical brothers who were the great city’s founders. Romulus, of course, murdered his brother Remus, which Benedict connected to the biblical story of Cain who killed his brother Abel out of envy. “Peter and Paul,” says Benedict, “much as they differ from one another in human terms and notwithstanding the conflicts that arose in their relationship, illustrate a new way of being brothers, lived according to the Gospel, an authentic way made possible by the grace of Christ’s Gospel working within them.” Rather than vie for supremacy, the two men saw each other as brothers in Christ, redeemed sinners bound to each other in Christian charity.
The keys of St. Peter are a reference to the moment Christ bestows a special status upon him, distinguishing Peter from the other Apostles. Jesus tells him: “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” (Mt 16:19). Our Lord is alluding to a passage from the prophet Isaiah (22:22), in which a man named Eliakim was given special authority as the steward of the royal house of David. Thus, Peter is given the role of special steward over Christ’s Kingdom, the keys representing authority to “bind and loose” when it comes to doctrine and issues of discipline in the Church. Along with the other Apostles, Peter received the power to “bind and loose” regarding the forgiveness of sins. “This grace, which defuses the powers of chaos and evil,” says Benedict, “is at the heart of the Church’s mystery and ministry.”
The sword of St. Paul reminds us of how he was beheaded outside the walls of the Eternal City for his faith in Christ. But, Benedict explains, “the image of the sword [also] refers to his entire mission of evangelization.” In his letter to Timothy (2 Tim 4:7), Paul writes: “I have fought the good fight.” According to Benedict, “This was certainly not the battle of a military commander but that of a herald of the Word of God, faithful to Christ and to His Church, to which he gave himself completely.” In these two images of the keys and the sword, we see the fullness of the Church’s apostolate imaged in the complimentary roles of St. Peter and St. Paul and understand why the two Apostles of Rome will forever stand side by side.
posted 6/27/26
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 