Patriarch Daniel Friday spoke about Saints Peter and Paul calling them ‘great teachers of the faith, eminent missionaries and steadfast intercessors for the life and unity of Christ’s Church.’
During
his homily delivered at the Patriarchal Cathedral on the feast of the
Holy and Glorious Apostles Peter and Paul, June 29, 2018, His Beatitude
Patriarch Daniel focused on the common aspects of their life and
missionary work and offered them as examples to be followed in preaching
the Gospel.
‘By their works,’ His Beatitude said, ‘they urge us
to strengthen our faith, to preach the Gospel, to love the Church and to
work for the healing and salvation of humans, but never by counting on
ourselves more than on God’s grace which is made manifest in Christ and
through Christ.’
‘United in the same faith in Jesus Christ’
The
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church noted that although Peter and
Paul ‘were different as regards their place of birth, their cultural,
intellectual formation, they were united in the same faith in Jesus
Christ.’
The Patriarch said that the two Leaders of the Apostles,
one a fisherman and the other a teacher of the Law, ‘were called by
Christ to proclaim the same Gospel of his merciful love.’
Patriarch Daniel highlighted ‘their fervent faith in Christ, the Son of God, and their spiritual connection with Him.’
The
Romanian Patriarch spoke about the witness of the two apostles to
Christ’s divinity saying, ‘Saint Peter testifies that Jesus is not
simply the son of Mary, saying: You are Christ the Son of the living
God. Also, Saint Paul bears witness that in Christ all the fullness of
the Deity lives in bodily form.’
‘A strong feeling of repentance’
The Patriarch also pointed to a common virtue of the two apostles: ‘they both had a strong feeling of repentance.’
‘St
Peter denied Christ three times, but then he wept bitterly as the Holy
Gospel relates. He loved and professed Christ until martyrdom.’
‘Saint
Paul had persecuted Christ’s Church, but then he regretted throughout
his life. He worked in the Church and for the Church more than any
other, as though he wanted to repay his error of having persecuted the
Church.’
‘Who will separate us from the love of Christ?’
A strong love for Christ and the Church can be met at both apostles.
The
Patriarch reminded that St Peter urged Christians to draw closer to
Christ and ‘to keep the true faith and the unity of the Church ignoring
the false prophecies.’
Patriarch Daniel said that St Paul had a
sacrificial love for Christ and quoted the Epistle to Romans saying,
‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor
demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’
These
words of St Paul ‘show us that his love of Christ was so strong that
nothing could frighten him, nothing could deviate him from preaching the
Gospel of Christ.’
Icon of Sts Peter and Paul
At the end of his homily, the Patriarch of Romania offered some interpretations of the icon of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
‘They
together represent the Church of Christ or the communion of Israel
(Saint Peter) with all the peoples of the world who believe in Christ
(Saint Paul).’
The patriarch pointed to the keys that Peter holds
in his hand saying that ‘they represent repentance and forgiveness of
sins, humility and merciful love through which man an enter the kingdom
of God.’
Referring to the sword held by St Paul, Patriarch Daniel
said ‘it represents the power of the holy word that distinguishes
between heresy and truth, between selfishness and love, between death
and life.’
Ending his speech, Patriarch Daniel urged everyone to
pray to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul ‘to grant us the power to be
witnesses of Christ’s love in today’s world.’