Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, with the day of the memory of the Holy Leaders of the Apostles Peter and Paul, as well as with the completion of the Apostles’ Fast!

In the Acts of the Holy Apostles we read that not long after Pentecost, fame about the believers of Christ spread beyond the walls of Jerusalem and that many people “brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one” (5: 15-16). About Paul we read that the citizens of the city of Lystra in Asia Minor, seeing the wonders worked by the apostle, said about him and his companion Barnabas, “The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men” (Acts 14:11). Considering not only the miracles that so amazed their contemporaries, but also the missionary work of Sts. Peter and Paul, it is not surprising that the Holy Church so solemnly glorifies these men.

Notwithstanding everything mentioned above, it would be remiss to forget that the Holy and Glorious Apostles Peter and Paul were not some kind of supernatural beings, but simple, sinful people like us. Remember how fear took possession of Peter and how he renounced Christ, not one time, but thrice. The apostle Paul himself wrote to the Galatians “how that beyond measure (he) persecuted the church of God, and wasted it” (Galatians 1: 13). Perhaps the most amazing and wonderful thing about today’s feastday is that the repentance of an apostate and a persecutor were accepted by God, and that these brittle earthen vessels (thus the Apostle Paul called himself in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians) became the leaders of the Apostles and the most powerful preachers of the gospel of Christ.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, today let us glorify our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, who, as we heard in today’s Gospel reading, heals not only physical but also spiritual ailments. Let us glorify Him for the sake of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul – frail people who, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, became spiritual giants. Today let us remember that for us, just as long ago it was for today’s saints, the doors of repentance are always open, and that the grace of God is always ready to sanctify the sincere penitent.

Priest Alexis