Bishop Bambera’s Homilies 2025

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
Saint Peter’s Cathedral
June 29, 2025

It’s not often that we have the opportunity during a Sunday celebration to reflect upon the lives of the two heroes we celebrate each year on June 29^th – Saints Peter and Paul. … As two of the very first leaders within the Church, they make an interesting pair, conveying two very different approaches to life and ministry. Yet both are unwavering in their commitment to serve the Lord.

Today’s gospel passage finds Peter confessing faith in Jesus as Messiah. He expresses his allegiance to Christ even though he does not yet fully grasp all that such an affirmation of faith will require of Jesus, much less himself. Time and trials will teach Peter the full meaning of the faith that he so boldly confessed.

While the gospel presents Peter at the beginning of his life as a follower of Jesus, our second reading from Saint Paul’s letter to Timothy presents Paul near the end of his. He reflects upon how his life has been poured out for the sake of the gospel and how God has stood by him and has given him the strength that he’s needed to face the struggles that have confronted him with hope.

Two disciples of the risen Jesus are presented to us today. Though different, both were convicted in their resolve to preach Christ crucified and raised from the dead – the only source of true life, meaning and purpose for a struggling and broken world. Their determination to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ saving ministry was unwavering – even though they understood very well that the cross of Jesus would be placed upon their shoulders before they would ever glimpse in their own lives the glory of the resurrection.

Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles finds Peter in prison for proclaiming – in both word and deed – the gospel of Jesus. The first persecution of the Christian community came quickly in the Church’s two-thousand-year-old history.

Now fast forward to this gathering of the Church – to this moment of prayer two thousand years later. One would think that for as refined and sophisticated a people as we have become down through the millennia, religious persecution would have diminished more than it has throughout our world. One would think that we would have come to realize the futility of war – the vital need to treat one another with dignity and respect – and the urgency of caring for the lives given to us, all made in the image and likeness of God. But we haven’t, have we?

More than ever, we need to pause and reflect upon the lives of men and women of faith who have given of themselves so fully and completely as to make a difference for good in our world in a lasting way. Peter and Paul – heroes of the earliest days of the Church – remind us of who and what we are called to be as followers of Jesus. We are called, like them, to proclaim Jesus Christ and to live our faith, not just in the creed that we profess or in this moment of prayer but through love and service of our sisters and brothers.

Despite its flaws and imperfections, the Church has always sought to follow the example of Jesus and to embrace his mandate to serve those most in need. All of our vast charitable works, including health care, social services and education, exist because of our faith in Jesus. They are not optional gestures but essential fruits of our faith.

Our late Holy Father, Pope Francis, captured this reality of our faith best in simple words that he would often share as he called us to embrace the heart of the gospel for which Jesus gave his life. “We cannot be inactive Christians. To sit on the sidelines as a follower of Jesus makes no sense. No, we must become courageous Christians and seek out those who need our help the most, beyond the doors of our churches. The moment we step outside of ourselves, we will find poverty and we must respond.”

My sisters and brothers, today we are given both the privilege and challenge of reflecting upon the foundations of our faith tradition as Christians, recognized so profoundly in the lives of Saints Peter and Paul. May their example prompt us to recognize the urgency of living our faith today – of reverencing the lives that God places within our own – and of treating them with respect and dignity not only in our words but by living Jesus’ example in our service to all.

Peter put it best when he spoke these words to Jesus: “Lord, to whom shall we go? We have come to believe that you have the words of eternal life.” … Our union with Jesus will become most authentic when we give him space at the very center of our lives – like Peter and Paul – and allow all our actions to be patterned by his love, grace and mercy.