Authority and Discipline, Saint Peter and Paul
by VP
Posted on Sunday June 29, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons
Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in heaven."-MATT. xvi. 17.
I. The chosen ones of Christ.
2. St. Peter, the pillar of the Faith.
3. St. Paul, the preacher of the Faith.
4. The same blessed Faith bestowed on us; how we should treasure it.
THE Combined festival of Saints Peter and Paul is rightly celebrated as one of the great and important festivals of the year. Rome especially glories in this festival of the Apostles who, by shedding their blood there, consecrated the eternal city to the service of God. But the whole Church, in all lands and in all ages, rejoices on this day of the triumph of the two chief Apostles, who were chosen by God to establish and consolidate His Church on earth. The Church that was destined by God to be universal and imperishable needed divine authority and divine doctrine. And these were given by the Son of God, and entrusted in a special way to the Apostles whose festival we celebrate to-day. The authority of St. Peter was to be handed down in the unbroken line of Sovereign Pontiffs; and the doctrine of St. Paul, divinely revealed to him, was to live for ever in the inspired words of his epistles.
Let us renew our faith by recalling the proofs of this authorization by Christ our Lord, that a poor illiterate fisherman should rule His Church and hold the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven; and how a Pharisee, a persecutor, should be a vessel of election to teach and preach the doctrines of the God of truth. In the gospel we read on two occasions of the great faith of St. Peter. In St. John (vi. 68), when many disciples left our Lord and walked no more with Him, our Blessed Lord said to the twelve: "Will you also go away? And Peter answered Him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that Thou art Christ, the Son of God." And in St. Matthew (xvi. 15-19): “ Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in heaven. And I say to thee: Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." This was the glorious commission bestowed on St. Peter, to whom our Lord also said: "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not " (Luke xxii. 32). And this authority, given to St. Peter, was destined to be handed down to all his successors, the chief pastors of the Church, the Sovereign Pontiffs, Pope after Pope, in succeeding ages. Invested with this power, their faith should fail not, as the supreme authority in the Church.
"Teach all nations" was the command of Christ, and therefore His Church was endowed with divinely revealed doctrine. And in this regard St. Paul speaks to us with no uncertain voice. "For I give you to understand, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For neither did I receive it of man, nor did I learn it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. i. II, 12). Your memory instantly recalls the great truths of religion, with the express testimony of the Apostle regarding them, and how one after the other have been impugned, explained away, or denied, not only by the godless world --the enemy of God—but by those who profess to be Christians, and to believe in the Holy Scriptures.
Take the doctrine of the Resurrection. "For I delivered to you first of all, which I also received, how Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day" (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4). Doubting, denying this is common in these days; and disbelief in it is so condoned that it does not disqualify from the highest positions in the Church in the land! Should not such men remember and fear these words of St. Paul: "If Christ be not risen from the dead, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins" (ibid. 17)?
And that sweet and blessed doctrine of our Faiththe divine Presence in the Holy Eucharist. Alas, how often denied and blasphemed by various sects in the face of such evidence as this! "I speak as to wise men; judge ye yourselves what I say. The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? And the Bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord ?" (1 Cor. x. 15, 16).
These words, which you know so well, let them not weary you, but glory in them as the great doctrines of our Faith. We hear on all sides that religion is old-fashioned and out of date. Doctrines must be changed, so as to embrace all the variations of modern thought. And do such people think they are something new, something original ? Be not led away with various and strange doctrines," says St. Paul (Heb. xiii. 9). And St. Peter says (2 Peter iii. 3): "In the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers." Can the eternal truth be out of date? "From eternity to eternity Thou art God . . . for a thousand years in Thy sight are as yesterday which is past" (Ps. lxxxix. 2, 4).
For ourselves how grateful we should be to God for the Faith which He has bestowed upon us--its authority and its doctrines. Let us pray to those glorious Apostles - who typify this authority and doctrine - to strengthen our faith, that we may live up to it, peacefully yet manfully, humble yet glorifying God by our obedient and holy lives." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB 1922 (Saint Peter and Paul)
Five Minute Sermon: Love of our Neighbor
by VP
Posted on Sunday June 29, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons
"This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them."St. Luke xv. 2.
"THIS practice of our Divine Lord is continued by His Church to the present day. We receive sinners; we eat with them, work with them, recognize them as friends and brethren. Outside the Church religious sects act otherwise. They turn sinners out of their organizations, put a ban on them publicly, draw a plain line between the good and the bad. The result is that our sinners are always within easy reach of our words of admonition, our entreaties, our edifying example, and for the most part are finally won back to a good life.
If a man is a great public sinner he is excommunicated-a case which occurs very rarely. If he is but a poor common sinner, he is not torn from our Saviour's bosom, but is hoped for, prayed for, left among the faithful and finally reclaimed.
But, my brethren, if such is the rule in the Church generally, it is nevertheless true that a sinful man's immediate associates are bound by divine charity to let him know that he is a sinner and to endeavor to save him. There are some Catholics who seem to be ignorant of their duty in this respect. To admonish a sinner, to try to make him change his life-this, they think, is a duty which belongs exclusively to the priest. The sins of others are in no sense their concern, it is none of their business to interfere with a sinner unless he violates some of their rights. On the other hand, there are others who have some dim perception of their duty in behalf of these sinners, but are too timid and cowardly, are too much afraid of sneers and rebuffs, too much afraid of giving offence, to say a word for God's honor and their neighbor's soul.
All this is wrong, my brethren; it is un-Christian. For if we are Christians in reality, if we love God sincerely, we must have a deep concern for His honor, we must see to it that others love Him and therefore serve Him. And we can often do this better than the priest. We can in cases reach men more easily, we can talk to them more freely, we can more readily make them feel that we are in sympathy with them and understand their difficulties. It is the precept of fraternal charity that makes us realize that we are all alike children of our Father who is in heaven. It is only by our observance of this precept that we have a right to call ourselves Christians. "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples," says our Blessed Lord, "that you love one another even as I have loved you." The love our Saviour bears for each one of us is the measure of the love we should bear our neighbor; and as He loves us in spite of our sins, as He received sinners and ate with them, so should we manifest our charity in behalf of poor sinners, so should we by our words, our example, and our kindness to them seek to lead them back to their allegiance to Almighty God.
How am I going to do this? I have a friend who never goes to Mass, who has not made his Easter duty for years, who is an habitual drunkard, whose mouth is defiled with profane and filthy words, and who in many ways sets God's laws at defiance; how am I to fulfil my duty of fraternal charity in his behalf?
In the first place, make him love you. There is no influence so strong as love, there is nothing which it cannot accomplish. If you gain a man's love you have a strong hold on him. He confides in you, he will readily listen to your advice, he will be quick to follow your suggestions. In the next place, always show him good example. The strongest words of warning and exhortation are of little or no avail unless you yourself show the truth of what you say in your own life. You cannot preach from a higher platform than your own practice And the first proof of the love we bear our neighbor is the good example we show him. Finally, don't be afraid to talk to him seriously and boldly about the manner of his life. Show your concern for his soul by strong, earnest words of exhortation, of admonition and reproof. Your earnestness will be the proof of your conviction, of your sincerity. He may not like this; it may make him angry, but he will not forget your words easily; they may make him think of his soul in spite of himself, and they may, under God's providence, become the initial grace of his conversion. In any event, you will have done your duty. Yes, brethren, like our blessed Lord, we “receive sinners and eat with them"; we do not exclude them from our prayers, our solicitude, our love. We seek to regain them to Christ, to win them back again to the blessings which His love has purchased for us all." Five-minute Sermons for Low Masses on All Sundays of the Year, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Feast of Saint Peter and Paul
by VP
Posted on Sunday June 29, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
These two apostles, having been great sinners, the one by denying his Master, and the other by persecuting His Church, and yet being raised to the dignity of pillars in the Church of Christ, commend the infinite goodness of God, and give you sufficient reason never to despair, but always confide in His mercy. Praise Him therefore, adore Him, and place your hopes firmly in Him.
Having faithfully laboured in the vineyard, and by their sufferings and miracles given proof of the doctrine which they taught; they were both put to death on the same day, at Rome, under the Emperor Nero; St. Peter being crucified, and St. Paul finishing his martyrdom by the sword. Pray for the prelates and pastors of Christ's Church; that as they receive the power of these apostles, they may act with their spirit; that by watching, preaching, mortification, and continual labours, they may seek the good of their neighbour, and venture their lives for his salvation.
In these two apostles, we have all reason to give praise and adoration to God, and admire the wonders of His power, who making choice of so weak vessels, has by them confounded all the wisdom of men, overthrown the empire of the devil, and established an eternal kingdom, which shall abide for ever. Consider the great weakness of our nature, our self-love, and the fear we have of suffering; and then compare it with the zealous labours of these apostles, with their resolution and patience under all kinds of persecutions, hated by Jews, reproached by the Gentiles, condemned by magistrates, opposed by princes, and yet preaching the faith without fear; neither tired with their labours, nor discouraged by torments, nor terrified with death, but victorious against all opposition; and you will easily discover such wonderful effects of the divine power and goodness in them, as to oblige you to pour forth your soul this day in praise and thanksgiving for the infinite mercies shown to these His servants for the good of all succeeding ages. On the other side, they will teach you how great a confidence you ought at all times to repose in God, notwithstanding all your infirmities and weakness. For though to work out your salvation be a work of difficulty, on account of the many enemies before you; yet upon reflecting how very little proportion there is between your difficulties and the discouragements which the apostles had, how great reason have you to place your trust in God, and hope that He, who so powerfully assisted them, as to give them victory over all the powers of darkness confederated against them, will likewise stand by you in those much weaker attempts, which shall be made against you.
But as the triumphs of these apostles are sufficient to raise up your dejected and sinking spirits, and fill them with hopes; so they ought to be a reproach to you of your great cowardice and general weakness, who are so often tired with ordinary difficulties, afraid of mortifications, impatient in sufferings, dejected with temptations, and so frequently overcome in small assaults. For if you would but seriously again compare your difficulties with theirs, the self-denials required of you, with their perpetual contradictions to sense and nature, in watching, nakedness, thirst, and a total renunciation of whatever the world approves; if you would contrast your sufferings with their persecutions, prisons, chains, and repeated deaths, the very little that you do, with what they did for the love of Jesus; it is to be feared that this consideration would require greater courage to support you from sinking under it than you usually show on other occasions; and that instead of celebrating the glory of these apostles with joy, you would find forcible reasons to spend this day in sighs and tears, bewailing your unworthiness, the contradiction of your life to theirs, and that professing yourself a disciple of the same master, you can scarcely produce anything whereby to make out this title.
This thought seems to invert the order of this solemnity; which being appointed for joy and thanksgiving, is thus put into mourning, and looks with the severity of Ash-Wednesday, or Good Friday. This however we cannot avoid: for though we are all obliged to give thanks for the graces, by which these apostles were raised to that eminent degree of all Christian virtues, and likewise to rejoice in their victories and glory; it must be owned that there is something very mortifying in their festival, and those of all other saints. There is something that casts a damp upon our spirits, and more strongly moves us to penance, than the ashes of the most penitential days. For when we consider the glory which they enjoy, and reflect on the method of their
lives, and all those labours, by which they arrived at that
unchangeable state; we cannot but condemn ourselves for our great
stupidity and neglects, who are not only so unmindful of our God, but so easily diverted from all those exercises, which can be the only means of obtaining
a happy eternity. How forcibly does this bring to our mind all our
sloth and indevotion, our impatience and vanity, our self-love, and
seeking our ease, our solicitude for this world, and all those
innumerable sins, by which we have provoked God, condemned His mercies,
and been rebellious against His will. And what can follow hence, but
lamentation and tears, contrition and resolution of doing penance, to redeem the time that is lost, to make some reparation for past follies and neglect, and lay a foundation of more solid hopes of one day being admitted into the fellowship and glory of the saints?
This, O God of infinite mercy, we desire may be the happy effect of the solemnity observed this day. We beg most earnestly that the virtues of these apostles may be a continual spur to our dull souls; that their rejoicing in chains may cure us of all impatience; that their continual labours may make us detest all sloth; that their sincere love of Jesus may be a perpetual reproach to us of all self-love, and love of the world; that their willingness to suffer for their Master may carry us on through all difficulties with cheerfulness; and that the consideration of their happiness may permit our souls to find no rest but in those things, which may lead us to the participation of the same bliss. Grant us this request, O Jesus, that our souls may be saved.
And for the public, we beseech thee that the spirit of these apostles may descend on all those who succeed in their function, and particularly on that prelate, who sits in the chair of St. Peter, and has the care of the whole flock. Assist all other pastors of thy Church, that being zealous for virtue and truth, they may faithfully discharge every part of their duty. Direct all believers by thy grace, that by the observance of thy law, they may be all living members of thy mystical body. And for all those, who through error or infidelity are out of thy Church, have compassion on them, O Jesus, who didst come to seek the lost sheep. Open their eyes by thy heavenly light, remove all obstinacy and blindness, and lead them into the way of truth; that being united to thee by faith, they may become a part of thy fold, and be qualified to inherit thy promises. And you, O holy apostles, join with us in our prayers; and let that charity of yours, which began this work, be now the happy means of finishing it." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Prayer:
O holy apostles, Peter and Paul, I choose you this day and for ever to be my special patrons and advocates; thee, St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, because thou art the Rock, upon which Almighty God hath built His Church; thee, St. Paul, because thou wast forechosen by God as the Vessel of election and the Preacher of truth in the whole world. Obtain for me, I pray you, lively faith, firm hope and burning love; complete detachment from myself, contempt of the world, patience in adversity, humility in prosperity, attention in prayer, purity of heart, a right intention in all my works, diligence in fulfilling the duties of my state of life, constancy in my resolutions, resignation to the will of God and perseverance in the grace of God even unto death; that so, by means of your intercession and your glorious merits, I may be able to overcome the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, and may be made worthy to appear before the chief and eternal Shepherd of souls, Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for endless ages, to enjoy His presence and love Him forever. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be
V. Thous shalt make them princes over all the earth,
R. They shall be mindful of Thy Name, O Lord.
Let us pray
O God, whose right hand raised up blessed Peter, when he walked upon the water and began to sink, and thrice delivered his fellow-Apostle Paul from the depths of the sea, when he suffered shipwreck: graciously hear us and grant, by the merits of them both, that we also may attain unto everlasting glory: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
Source: The Raccolta, — A Manual of Indulgences by Sacred Penitentiary Apostolic, Benziger Brothers, Inc. , 1957