Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

70th anniversary of the ordination to the Priesthood of Pope Benedict XVI. 

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 22 The Sleeping Arrangement of the Monks

Mass: Acts 12;1-11; Resp Ps 34; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 17-18; Mt 16:13-19

Glorify the Lord with me, together extol His name.

JESUS, MASTER OF THE APOSTLES,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, QUEEN OF APOSTLES,

PRAY FOR US.

Spurred on by Pope Francis in today's Angelus Address, reflect on a question of Jesus in today's Gospel: Who do you say that I am? Or think of it this way, as Pope Francis did. Jesus asks: "Who am I to you?" When you are anxious or afraid, Who am I am to you? When you are sick or grieving the loss of a loved one, Who am I to you? When you are joyful and energetic and all seems well, Who am I to you? When you feel neglected or dismissed, Who am I to you? When things aren't going your way, Who am I to you? When you have been faithful to prayer and going to daily Mass yet still feel empty and void, Who am I to you? And right now, when you are reading this, in and under whatever circumstances you find yourself in, Who am I to you? Trust, believe, Jesus loves you. Turn to Him with your strengths and your weaknesses, for as Saint Paul wrote, "for when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:10), and "by God's grace I am what I am" (1 Cor 15:10), and "he who boasts should make his boast in the Lord" (2 Cor 10:17). May we, with Saint Peter, look to Jesus and say, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"! (Mt 16:16). 

The Church looks to Peter and Paul, these two giants of faith and sees two Apostles who set free the power of the Gospel in our world, only because first they themselves had been set free by their encounter with Christ.

(Pope Francis, homily, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 2021)

Witnesses do not lose themselves in words, but rather they bear fruit. They do not complain about others and the world, but they start with themselves. They remind us that God is not to be demonstrated, but shown; not announced by proclamations but shown by example.

(Pope Francis, Angelus Address, June 29, 2021)

NB. At last Sunday's Angelus Address, and in preparation for today's solemnity, the Holy Father asked us to "pray for him in a special way." "The Pope needs your prayers!", he said. "Thank you. I know that you will do so."

SAINTS PETER AND PAUL,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: A wild rose.

© Gertrude Feick 2021