He will make us strong

(Homily of Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao during the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul and 175th Parochial Fiesta of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Davao, June 29, 2023.)

I’d like to propose three (3) reflections in on this feast, and three (3) reflections coming from the life of St. Peter the apostle whom we are honoring today.

First, recall when Simon Peter was called by the Lord to become his follower, disciple, to follow him. Remember the scene; there were fishermen, very ordinary panginabuhi, it was on that scene that the Lord called him, very ordinary; and that ordinary life which is our life, your life, ordinary, noting extraordinary but yet that very ordinary status sa kinabuhi, he was called by the Lord to become fisher of men.

We cannot say that we are less than St. Peter, in our ordinary, daily, livelihood, what we do everyday, what we do in life, St. Peter can be our example. Today, we are challenged to see ang tawag sa Dios to become extraordinary, excellent in our lives. Make it happen: an occasion in life to show the extraordinary goodness of the Lord.

Second lesson, we can read in the gospel that Peter was growing in his faith, he became strong. He denied Jesus, but also after that fall, terrible fall, Peter recovered and repented. From grace, sin and then redemption. It can happen to us also. It may happen that we fall, and that fall can be terrible. But yet the recovery, the forgiveness, the resurrection, the redemption of Peter is also extraordinary.

Third, you see the beauty of the gospel reading today is that Jesus asked them, “what are they saying about me?” It was Peter who gave the excellent answer, the sinful Peter, the weak Peter, the fisherman Peter called to be a disciple, he gave an excellent answer of faith, he showed his faith. From there the Lord declared, “you are rock.”

It was not because of Peter’s faith, good enough yes but it was the Lord who declared, “you are rock, upon you I will build my church.” The noble and holy joy today, looking at the life of our patron saint, yes we can declare our faith, but still in the clear context, our faith is weak, our hearts are weak but yet it is the Lord who will say, “you are rock, I will make you strong, with my grace, with your faith, I’ll make you strong and upon you I will build my church.”