“And on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”
Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ,
On the 7th Sunday of Pentecost, we commemorate with our Church the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. St Peter was martyred crucified on an inverted cross as he had declared that he was not worthy to die like Jesus. His crucifixion occurred on the spot where St Peter Church stands now in the Vatican. St Paul was martyred by cutting his head off by sword outside the city under Nero’s reign.
The feast of Saints Peter and Paul is the feast of every baptised who carries in their heart the love of Christ, walking on the footsteps of Paul in proclaiming the Good News, and carrying the banner of faith, like Peter to whom the Holy Spirit revealed that Jesus is “the Son of the living God.” Our faith grows through the Word brought to us by the Bible, and through the teachings of our Mother the Church and our participation in the Sacraments of sanctification. We are all called to be tuned to the Holy Spirit to find out, through prayer and the Eucharist, the will of the Lord for us, so we can build the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of peace, forgiveness, love, mercy and fraternity in our daily lives, wherever we work, study or serve. The past is not important, it is rather our current journey that matters! Paul persecuted the Christians, yet he was transformed through the grace of the Lord and became one of the greatest preachers of His Word and one of the Church’s pillars, loving the Church to death! Peter who had declared his faith in the divinity of Christ and the Lord made him the rock upon which he would build his Church, denied Jesus three times before he repented and expressed his love to Him with tears. Peter holds now the power to bind and loose and the keys of heaven, leading the Church, fulfilling the Lord’s request to him three times: “tend my sheep.” If the Lord calls us today, do we follow Him? Do we truly love Him so we can be fishers of people as He wants us to be, or killers of people with our harsh words? If He asks me “do you love me?” What do I say? And if He asks “Whom do you say am I?” Do I answer “you are Christ the Son of the living God?” One last question, and the answer should be left to the conscience to each one of us: “Am I really a rock upon which the Lord can build His Church?”
On the parish news, the work in the grotto area has resumed in the hope that it will be completed within five weeks. In the meantime, the serious spiritual and temporal preparations to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of our Mother Virgin Mary in body and soul into heaven have started. It is the feast of our parish which we will be celebrating under a theme that tells the story of Mary’s tenderness and love for us: “Embrace our Youth O Morning Star”. She is the mother to whom each one of us yearns for her warmth, but we have dedicated the theme specifically to our youth as it is the Year of the Youth in the Church. I hope that you participate in the preparation meeting on Monday 2 July 7 pm in the Pastoral Centre of the Co-Cathedral… Hand in hand, we build the stone and the human in our parish!
