Fr Xavier Writes 30th June 2024
As I announced during last weekend’s Masses, it’s my pleasure to welcome Fr. Tristan Cranfield as our new Parish Priest and may I invite all our parishioners to pray for him and for his ministry with us to be grace-filled and successful. Fr. Tristan will arrive in early August.
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, the two giants of our Christian faith. The beauty about this Feast is that we celebrate them together, yet they were two different characters. In their distinct differences and uniqueness, we celebrate their joint great effort in shaping the early church.
There were many differences though - Peter was a disciple of Jesus and knew Jesus personally. Paul had been a zealous Jew who persecuted Christians, before experiencing a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, but he did not spend time with Jesus. Peter was a fisherman from Galilee, while Paul was a tent maker from Tarsus in Turkey. Peter was unable to read, while Paul was highly educated and an extensive writer, giving us thirteen books in the New Testament.
In looking at the early history, Peter believed that, to become a follower of Christ, people must first become a Jew and then a Christian. Whereas Paul held the opposite view, that, if we truly believe that Jesus came for everyone, then people could become Christian without adhering to Jewish laws. This dispute was settled in 49AD-the Council ofJerusalem (Acts.15,Gal.2) - that Jewish law was not to be imposed on Gentiles.
Even though Peter and Paul were different and held different views, they were ONE, united in their efforts and united in their love for Christ. Unity and communion are at the centre of today’s Feast. We, as followers of Christ, must learn to be one and to be united in witnessing and being a Christian in our Parish. St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us.
