Commentary of the Gospell

June 29, 2022

Ecclesial Coniunctio

With all the primal significance that Peter and Paul hold in the Church, why on earth are their feasts clubbed into a single day, instead of honouring them with separate individual days? Perhaps we can think of two reasons: (1) This feast is more about the Church than about them, and the Church is always a community, not an individual affair. (2) The Peter-Paul phenomenon is a window into the nature of the Church that remains open and inclusive. They are two ends on a continuum. Peter is all that Paul is not, and vice versa: Peter is fisherman, working class peasant, practically unschooled (only high school diploma), and full of heart (emotion). Paul, on the contrary, is an intellectual, of noble class, a Roman citizen, Ivy League-schooled, and full of reason. If God chose them both, so must the Church be: open to every sort of human beings. As in the alchemical lingo, a coninuncio: a union of opposites.

Paulson Veliyannoor, CMF - Claretian Publications Philippines