June 30th

Peter and Paul

PETER AND PAUL

Yesterday, June 29 was the Feast Day of Peter and Paul.  In Common Prayer, the authors write:

One of the ways we see the wisdom of the early church is in their placing Peter and Paul’s saint days together so that they have a shared celebration, thereby making sure that there was no room for divisions over their leadership, even with their disagreements. (It may be that the church forgot this wisdom in the Reformation, with Rome claiming Peter’s authority and Paul becoming the hero of Protestants.) The early church was quite clear that the first pastor and the first theologian of the faith had to be held in equal respect and in equal balance of authority. One without the other leaves us incomplete and unbalanced.

[ Common Prayer, 337 ]