Sunday 28th June – Ss. Peter & Paul  Acts 12:1-11; 2 Tim. 4:6-8, 17-18 & Mt. 16:13-19In England and Wales this feast is kept as a Holy day of Obligation and since thedue date (29th June) falls on a Monday this year, it is transferred to the Sunday andreplaces the Readings for Sunday Week 13.

The Reading from Acts (written by St Luke) is part of a longer story of the ultimatedemise of King Herod. You may remember that St Luke records an interviewbetween Herod and Jesus in his account of the Passion during the previousPassover celebrations. We hear that James the brother of John is put to death, atHerod’s orders, and that Peter is now arrested, to be tried after the Passovercelebrations are over, presumably to meet the same fate. An angel intervenes,however, and Peter escapes. This is not yet the time for his martyrdom, for now themessage of Jesus must continue to be taken to other places outside Jerusalem. Itis, however, time for the death of King Herod which this chapter goes on to record,but which is not part of today’s extract.

2 Timothy was almost certainly written by a disciple of St Paul after his death. Thepassage is a testament in honour of Paul’s great achievements in being faithful tothe mission for which he was commissioned. Now he faces his own death but isquite certain that the Lord who was with him throughout that missionary work will,“bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom”.

This is perhaps the most famous of the so-called Petrine texts in the Gospels (theothers being Jesus’ call to strengthen his brethren in St Luke’s account of the LastSupper (22:31) and the commission to “Feed my sheep” after the Resurrection(Jn.21:15-17). Clearly Peter is given a leading role among the Twelve, havingauthority over something called “the church”, which is mentioned for the first timein the Gospels. Some writers over the centuries have interpreted the “Rock” onwhich this church is to be built as Peter himself, while others, including St Bede,interpret this rock as his profession of faith rather than his person. Whicheverinterpretation one accepts, it is clear that Peter is first among equals in regard tothe apostles.

Reflections on the Readings for Ss. Peter & Paul and Week 13

Monday Week 13 – Amos 2:6-10, 13-16 & Mt. 8:18-22 Today, and for the next several weeks, our First Readings come from what in ourChristian Bible we call “The Prophets”, and more specifically those who wrote beforethe Fall of Jerusalem that was recounted at the end of last week’s Readings.However, in the Jewish Bible these are called “The Latter Prophets” (the “FormerProphets” being the books we call “Historical”). They are offered to us during theseweeks in chronological order, not the order in which they appear in our Bible (whichis by length of the text). Elijah, the hero of many of the stories we heard in the last three weeks, has beendead about one hundred years. Prophets belonged to a recognised ministry withinthe Jewish faith. This ministry was usually passed down through families. Althoughcalled to proclaim the truth of God’s message, good news always paid better thanbad, so there was a tendency to ignore the wrongdoings, especially of those inpower, and simply to go with the flow. In Amos, however, a new kind of prophetcomes on the scene. Later in the week we will hear Amos recount how he was givenhis commission to preach his message, for today we can see that it is a fiery one.Amos does not hold back in condemning the injustices perpetrated by the rich overthe poor. This will be a signature theme of all the prophets who come after him. The urgency of the need to respond to the call to discipleship is given sharp focus intoday’s Gospel. Jesus has just cured several people – including the Centurion’sservant and Peter’s mother-in-law. There are great crowds gathering around him, sohe decides he should go across to the other side of the lake. One potential discipleis warned that following Jesus will be no easy ride, another, already a disciple, istold that he cannot now turn back, even for the apparently very compassionatereason of doing the duty owed to his dead father of burying him. Discipleship is amatter calling for single-minded focus.

Tuesday Week 13 – Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12 & Mt. 8:23-27 Having listed the many crimes for which the people (of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) areguilty, Amos now goes on to emphasise the inevitably of God’s retribution for all they havedone. In a series of seven questions, all of which are rhetorical and call for the answer, “No!”, theprophet gives them the ultimate warning, about which they should be truly worried, “Israel,prepare to meet your God!” Today we have St Matthew’s account of the Calming of the Storm. As always, in comparison toSt Mark’s earlier account, he portrays the disciples in rather better light. Whereas St Mark hasthem ask Jesus, “Do you not care?”, in this account they simply ask, “Save us, Lord, we aregoing down!” Jesus’ response is the same, a rebuke for their lack of faith, and the result also thesame: astonishment and wonder. Wednesday Week 13 – Amos 5:14-15, 21-24 & Mt. 8:28-34 We are offered only extracts from Amos’ writings in our Readings but to get the full flavour ofhis message it would be a useful exercise to read the whole (not particularly long) text, to gaina better understanding of just how comprehensive is the prophet’s condemnation of theinjustice he finds around him. Unjust practices are linked in this Reading, as elsewhere in theProphets, to the emptiness of their liturgies. God’s words reported by Amos, “I hate and despiseyour feasts,” are especially strong. Liturgy and justice must go hand in hand in all true religion. St Matthew often shortens and adapts his version of stories that appear first in St Mark’sGospel. Today the account of “the Gadarene Swine” is both much shorter than Mark’s very vividaccount and now involves two men not one. The reaction of the locals is, perhaps, what wemight reflect on, “They implored him to leave the neighbourhood!” Sometimes, rather thanbeing attracted to Jesus by what he does, people are scared by him. How do I react to whatJesus does in this incident? Thursday Week 13 – Amos: 10-17 & Mt. 9:1-8 Amaziah, one of the official prophets of the Northern Kingdom, denounces Amos for hisgloomy talk and tells him to return to the Southern Kingdom (of Judah) from whence he came.Amos responds by admitting freely that he is not one of the “brotherhoods of prophets”,but that he was called by God from his work as a shepherd and farmer in the South to preachGod’s message to the people and he will desist from doing this. In fact, he “doubles-down”, asthe saying goes, and predicts destruction and exile for the Kingdom of Israel. The Cure of the Paralytic is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. In all of them Jesustalks to the man, who has been lowered down from the roof by his friends, about forgiveness ofsins. Notice that when Jesus responds to the man’s need of physical healing, we are told thathe saw “their faith”: the faith of the men who had carried him to the house and lowered himdown from the roof. We might reflect here on the times when we, ourselves, have been carriedat times by the faith of family and friends and to give thanks for them.

Friday Week 13 – Feast of St Thomas the Apostle - Amos 8;4-6, 9-12 & Mt. 9:9-13  (I have kept to the Readings of the Feria because they can both speak to the feast day of anapostle.) The message of the entire Bible – Old and New Testaments alike – is about worshipping Godand doing justice, both go together. Amos rails against injustice being perpetrated at thesame time as lip-service is being paid to feast days and worship. The two cannot be separatedbecause God demands both. This is the message we are all called upon to live and to preachwith our lives and today we celebrate the example of one of the apostles: Thomas who, bytradition, took the Gospel to India. The Call of Matthew and Jesus dining with “a number of tax collectors and sinners” reminds usof the fact that the Gospel message is not directed to an elite who feel they have no need ofGod’s healing and mercy, rather it is to sinners. Included in that list of sinners is Thomashimself, who doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead until he was given proof. Havingrepented he is once again able to take his place among the disciples and to become part ofthe mission to preach the message of the Resurrection. Saturday Week 13 – Amos 9:9-13 & Mt. 9:14-17 Today we are offered the final words of Amos at the end of his book. They are words ultimatelyof hope and redemption. Although he has harsh things to say to the people of the NorthernKingdom, and there will be no of avoiding the consequences of their actions up to now, thereis a promise of better things to come… after all of the misery. This will be a signature call of allthe prophets: God does not abandon the people and is always faithful to the Covenant. From the beginning of his Gospel St Matthew portrays Jesus as the Messiah: ‘Emmanuel’ –‘God-with-us’. Something radically new has appeared on the scene that sweeps the old waysto one side. This is what Jesus is saying in answer to the question about why his disciplesdo not fast, whereas those of John the Baptist and the Pharisees do. The two short parablesbout the un-shrunken cloth and the new wineskins emphasise the point. The two, the old andthe new, do not fit together. The old is not, however, deemed to be bad, indeed St Matthewadds the need for ‘both’ to be preserved. As Christians we ultimately read the Old Testament inthe light of the supreme revelation of God in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, andcontinue in that way to learn from it.