Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and Sisters,
We celebrated the memory of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the most prominent among the Apostles. They surpassed others in their labours in preaching the Gospel and in divine grace given them from the Lord.
The Apostles Peter and Paul had very different personality types, and at the same time they had so much in common! One of their common features is highlighted in a church hymn in their honour.
“Thou hast provided the sinful with a model of repentance: Thy two apostles. For the one denied Thee at the time of Thy suffering, yet repented, while the other opposed the preaching of Thee, but later came to believe…” (Little Vespers)
The Lord allowed both Apostles to fall, in order to give them to all an example of repentance, and in order to show by their example His endless mercy towards those who come to Him with repentance.
One of the Apostles, St Peter, denied Christ at the time of His Passion. Another one, St Paul was a persecutor of the Church. Both after their conversion continued to repent of their fall for the rest of their lives.
It is impossible to be in communion with God without repentance. “A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart God will not despise” (Ps 50).
God does not accept our prayers if they are not sent to Him from a humbled and repenting heart. Repentance is, so to speak, an entry ticket, without which no one can be accepted.
On the contrary, self-justification and self-righteousness, in any form and in any degree, is an abomination before God. (Proverbs 16:5)
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).
God resists those who justify themselves. What is more dreadful than to have God as an enemy?
Let us remember this especially when we come to the mysteries of Confession and Holy Communion. The more one acknowledges his sins and accuses himself the more God justifies him.
Amen
