Vatican City, 29 June 2014 (VIS) –
After celebrating Mass in the Vatican basilica with the new
metropolitan archbishops, the Pope appeared at the window of his
study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's
Square, as on every Sunday. He remarked that ever since ancient
times, the Church of Rome has celebrated the apostles Peter and Paul
in a single festivity on the same day, 29 June, so that “the faith
in Jesus Christ which made them brothers and martyrs made them into a
single entity”.
“St. Peter and St. Paul, so different
from each other from a human point of view, were chosen personally by
the Lord Jesus and responded to His call, offering all their lives.
In both, Christ's grace achieved great things, transforming them.
Simon had denied Jesus in the dramatic moment of the passion; Saul
had harshly persecuted Christians. But both welcomed God's love and
allowed themselves to be transformed by His mercy; they thus became
friends and apostles of Christ. They therefore continue to speak to
the Church and even nowadays they show us the path of salvation. If
we too fall prey to the gravest sins and the darkest night, then God
is always able to transform our heart and forgive us everything, thus
transforming the darkness of our sin into a dawn of light”.
He went on to cite the Acts of the
Apostles, which demonstrate many aspects of their witness. “Peter,
for example, teaches us to look to the poor through the eyes of faith
and to give them that which is most precious: the power of the name
of Jesus. This is what he did with the paralytic; he gave him what he
had, which was Jesus”. And the episode of Paul's conversion on the
road to Damascus, the fulcrum of his life, “clearly marks a before
and after. Before, Paul was an arch-enemy of the Church. After, he
placed all his existence at the service of the Gospel. Also for us,
the encounter with the Word of Christ is able to completely transform
our lives. It is not possible to listen to this Word and stand firm,
unswayed in our habits. It gives us the impetus to defeat the
selfishness we have in our hearts, to follow decisively that Master
who gave His life for His friends. But it is He Who, with His word,
changes us; it is He Who transforms us; it is He Who forgives
everything, if we open our hearts and ask for forgiveness”.
This feast day inspires great joy in
us, because it places us before the work of God's mercy in the hearts
of two men. It is the work of God's mercy in these two men who were
great sinners. And God wishes to fill us too with His grace, as He
did with Peter and Paul. May the Virgin Mary help us to welcome it as
they did, with an open heart, and not to receive this grace in vain!
And may she support us in the hour of need, to give witness to Jesus
Christ and His Gospel”.
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