On the 29th of June our Church celebrates the feast of The Holy, Illustrious and Ever-praised Major Apostles, Peter and Paul. Both Peter and Paul are distinguished for their character, their zealous apostolic labors and their willingness to come to consensus with regards to the true focus of the Church.

As we all know, Paul did not belong to the original group of the twelve picked by Jesus. He was, however, an educated man and his superhuman sacrifices for the sake of the Church were recognized by all, especially Peter. So when Paul challenged Peter and the others about the practice of making all converts become adherents to Judaism through the ritual of initiation, his challenge was thoughtfully met by Peter who agreed with Paul and directed, as the leader of the twelve, that the Good News that Jesus preached was not merely a reformation of Judaism. It was through Paul’s courageous action of confronting the way the other Apostles interpreted the Jesus message and Peter’s willingness to listen and concede that Paul was right, allowed the Church, as we know it, to be born!

If you have been following my Bulletin article on the New Testament, you are aware that Paul’s interpretation of the    Jesus message became the foundation for the Church’s understanding of God’s   revelation to humankind through the Person of Jesus and also the Gospels.

St. Peter died in Rome between the years 64 or 67 CE during Emperor Nero’s reign. St John Chrysostom gives June 29th as the day of his death. St. Paul, according to tradition, died in Rome by the sword June 29th, between 65 or 67 CE.

The cult of Peter and Paul began from the very moment of their death because of the significance of their labors. Their tombs in Rome were well known and all Christians revered them. It was in the fourth century that their cult became universal in both the Eastern and Western Churches. In Constantinople, Constantine the Great built a magnificent church in honor of the Twelve Apostles. He himself was later buried there.

The oldest church calendars already had the feast of these Apostles. Originally, not all the Churches observed their memory at the same time. The Calendar of Furius Philocalus, from the middle of the fourth century, has the commemoration of Peter and Paul on the 29th of June.

On June 30th the Eastern Church celebrates the memory of all the Apostles. It is Chrysostom who, in a sermon on this feasts, relates the cities where some of the Apostles preached: Peter (Rome); Paul (the world); Andrew (Hellas); Thomas (Ethiopia); Mark (Alexandria); Philip (Hierapolis); Bartholomew (Lycaonia); and John (Ephesus). He also indicated that Luke and Matthew wrote the Gospels.

Today let us thank God for the Apostles