Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul

Who am I?

We have all been there, we have all done it and possibly also suffered it. No sooner did we learn how to speak than we bombarded our poor parents with questions. As an average, a child makes up to 40.000 questions between the ages of 2 to 5. This means that if you have a child in your care, depending on their age, you may be lucky enough to be subjected to up to 300 questions in one day! If you are a parent or a schoolteacher and you are reading this, know that you have all my respect.
​
However, as we grow up, every individual must leave behind the simplicity of the question “why?” to start formulating more complex questions. And I don’t mean questions that use many more words, but questions that are extremely urgent and yet extremely difficult to answer. Questions such as: “Who am I?” “What is my place in this world?” “What have I been created for?” Knowing the world around us is good and necessary but it is also totally unsatisfactory if we don’t know who we are and what our role in this world is.

But no matter how well you think you know yourself that sooner or later suddenly something will open your eyes to the humbling realization that you don’t know yourself at all. And more often than not, it does not come as a result of an exercise of introspection, but surprisingly, as the result of an encounter with the other.

This was surely the experience of Peter and Paul, whose feast we celebrate this Sunday. Peter had his own family, a well-established fishing company and he owned at least two properties. But when he thought that there wasn't more to his existence than being a father a husband and a fisherman, he had an encounter with Jesus that changed that completely. Surely, his new life was not exempt from problems and difficulties, but all in all was an amazing adventure he would have never imagined. So it happened with Paul. He was a very well-educated Pharisee, he also enjoyed Roman citizenship, and earned his living making tents. He thought his vocation was to destroy Christianity, but then he too had an encounter with Jesus who put his life upside down, or rather, the right way up.

This feast of Peter and Paul encourages us all not to be afraid of Jesus Christ, or even to seek him out, who will show us who we truly are, where to find fulfilment, how to reach our potentials and help us occupy the place in this world that God had planned for each one of us.   

Fr Daniel Herrero Pena

Breaking News:
From 5th July, our Church opens for public worship, Mass will be celebrated Monday - Saturday at 10am. We will announce the Sunday schedule next week. With social distancing measures in place we will be able to accommodate 100 persons at any Mass. We are working to see how best we can facilitate our safe return to the building. We will need volunteer stewards and cleaners to be present at these Masses. Please consider being a volunteer.