Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul

June 29 is the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul,  here the church celebrates and recall the martyrdom of these two pillars of the Church.  What is the significance of St. Peter to the Church?  He was the chosen leader of the church, the head and symbol of unity.  St. Peter was not perfect he was a man fraught with weaknesses.  His first encounter with Jesus wan on the fishing boat.  In that story it was told that all night they went fishing and they catch nothing.  But in the early of morning our Lord stepped up and told them to lower the net.  And lo they gathered a hundredfold.  Simon Peter exclaimed "Stay away from me Lord for I am a sinful man."  Jesus said "from now on you shall no longer be fishers but fishers of men."  In one instance when there was a storm, they asked Jesus to save them and they saw Jesus walking on the water.  Simon Peter requested to be invited to walk on the water.  And once half way, he began to sink.  Jesus rebuked Peter for his lack of faith.  Simon-Peter was also an impulsive man, prone to imprudent decisions.  He steike the ears of Malchus when the High Priests servants tried to arrest Jesus.  Simon Peter also displayed cowardice when he denied our Lord three times.  But Jesus told him, "Satan has desired to sift you (Peter) like wheat, but I have prayed for you.  Once you are converted strengthened your brothers."  After the Ascension of Our Lord and after Pentecost Peter became the confirmed leader of the Apostles and of the Church.  The wisdom of God was upon him and by work, life and teaching he has nourished the church.  In the end he paid for it by his own life by dying the martyr's death on the cross.  He felt so unworthy to be crucified in the same manner with Our Lord so he requested that he be crucified upside down.  St. Peter, Vicar of Christ and chief of the apostles, pray for us.