* Peter and Paul, June 29, 2008
* Theme: To know Jesus is to change our lives
* Stewardship – Commitment Sunday

* Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul
* Peter – Chief Apostle to the Jewish community
* Paul – Chief Apostle to the Gentile (non-Jewish) community
* Both martyred in Rome for their Faith in Jesus:
* Paul in about 62 CE
* Peter in about 64 CE

* Both were ordinary men who lives were changed completely by the person of Jesus
* Peter was a simple fisherman
* He probably had no formal schooling.
* His practice of his Jewish faith was probably more out of tradition rather than formal study of Moses and the Prophets.
* He left everything and followed Jesus on impulse.
* He exhibited moments of brilliance and faith as we see in today’s Gospel reading when he recognized Jesus as the Christ, the “Son of the Living God.”
* He also exhibited human weakness when Peter gets ahead of himself, and Jesus says to him, “Get behind me, Satan.”
* Through God’s grace, Peter overcame all his doubts and missteps because his faith in the person of Jesus was rock solid.
* Paul, for his part, was a Pharisee of the strict observance
* Zealous for the Law of Moses (practicing a kind of Jewish McCarthyism)
* He persecuted Jewish believers of this new Christian sect as people who were heretics and who should be put to death.
* He has an experience of the person of Jesus on the road to Damascus – and his life is changed forever
* Paul immediately puts his brilliance and his rhetoric to use to spread the message of Jesus.
* He eventually meets Peter and the other Apostles, but not until after three years of preaching after his conversion.
* He suffered persecution, shipwreck, beatings, imprisonment and eventual death, but his faith in Jesus, like Peter’s, was rock solid.
* Peter and Paul were ordinary men, who given the gift of faith in Jesus, were called to greatness.

* You and I have been given the same gift of faith:
* In a world that repels from self-denial, we choose to make sacrifices to spread the gospel message.
* In a world that measures by appearance and social standing, we choose to be with the poor and the outsiders.
* In a world that chooses violence in deeds and words as a solution to conflict, we choose non-violence, dialogue and love of enemies.

* Such living requires rock-solid faith.
* Neither Peter nor Paul nor we have this faith on our own.
* Faith is a gift of God, and we bless God for it.
* The gift enables us to make hard choices.
* We all have made choices that have altered our lives based on that gift of faith
* When we choose to die to self interests or face death at the end of our lives,
* Our faith assure us we will rise again
* Rock-solid faith gives us the eyes to see “the Son of the living God” standing with us, renewing our hope and raising us up.
* (Cf. Jude Siciliano, O. P.)

* Last week, I spoke at all the Masses about how our faith in God is expressed at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament.
* I invited each of you as individuals and as families to consider how you might live out your gift of faith in the sharing of your Time, Talent and Treasure.
* I also invited you to consider making a financial commitment this Sunday to the parish that will help us cover our expenses for the coming fiscal year that begins July 1

* At this time I would like to invite (Carol Kozerachi, John Heil, Gwen Young, Ed Dilkes) to come forward give us a short testimony of what this parish community means to them, and why they have made a commitment of their time, talent and treasure.

* I would invite the ushers to come forward to pick up the commitment cards

* Thank you
* For you Faith in God
* For your prayers to God on behalf of us all
* For you commitment to community of Blessed Sacrament

* Amen

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