The story of our life is the story of our mission
June 29, 2025–Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
Readings: Acts 12:1-11, Psalm 34, R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Gospel–Matthew 16:13-19
The journeys of Saints Peter and Paul give us the inspiration to seek God’s will and mission for us in the story of our lives. Let this be our overarching theme for our reflections this Sunday, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
From this theme, we will reflect on the stories of these two pillars of the early church.
People often ask how they can know their mission or God’s will for them. What I have seen and learned over the years is that God works through patterns in our life, and these develop into the story of our life.
The Jungian psycho-spiritual writer, Robert Johnson, in his autobiography, wrote that we see slender threads in our life that at times may seem random and isolated, but these are not isolated. In time they will all come together.
The slender threads of our life will be woven together to form the magnificent tapestry of God’s will and mission for us. The story of our life is the story of our mission.
We see this grace in the two saints whose feast we celebrate today.
I would like to invite you to reflect on the stories of their mission using two scripture passages which give us a synthesis of their journey.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we see Peter’s complete transformation. “Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and] walk.’” (Acts 3: 6)
Peter’s first encounter with Jesus led him to plead, “Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man.” (Luke 5: 8) Yet it was with this sense of unworthiness that Jesus called him to be a “fisher of men.”
His journey was marked by many ups and downs. As some would describe him, his impetuousness got him into “trouble.”
In the final Resurrection appearance of the Lord in the Gospel of John, we witnessed what we could consider as the turning point in his journey. As some put it, Peter was reinstated.
Asked by the Lord a third time, “Do you love me?,” he realized his failures and shortcomings and responded, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” (cf. John 21: 17)
Fast-forward, post Pentecost, you have this powerful witness of Peter. With humility he confessed his poverty and boldly proclaimed the newfound source of his identity and mission: “…what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.” This is now Peter, the first leader of the church.
Witness
St. Paul has an equally powerful witness to the Lord’s centrality in and impact on his life. This describes not just his conversion, but also a summary of our own faith.
“For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.” (Galatians 2: 19-20)
“I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.” This is the summary not just of Paul’s faith, but of our faith too.
Paul, whose zeal and passion led him to be one of the feared persecutors of the early Christians, was present when the first martyr of the church, St. Stephen (cf. Acts 7-8), was killed.
Not only was he present, but he was also believed to have been one of the instigators of the act, as the people placed their cloaks at the feet of Saul after Stephen was stoned.
With his conversion, Paul became the greatest evangelizer of the early church, performing his ministry to the gentiles with great zeal and dedication.
He is the prime example of what St. Ignatius of Loyola said, that once we discover God’s will or mission for us, we must give ourselves totally to the work, “totus ad laborem,” and reorient all that we have, all our passions and desires toward fulfilling the mission.
Such was Paul’s journey.
These are the stories of two followers of the Lord, each contributing to the success of the early missionary church. Their contribution was as unique and as personal as the story of their lives.
We have much to learn from Saints Peter and Paul, especially in reclaiming our story, and in doing so, choose to write this story together with God with the blessings of his grace and love.
