Regarding the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, an annual feast day that falls on June 29, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said it’s a fair assertion to say that the spreading of the Christian faith around the world started with these two men.
Archbishop Hebda told “Practicing Catholic” radio show producer Kayla Mayer during an interview that will air June 28, “There’s certainly great saints that I’ve really loved over the years. Particularly the feast day is important for us here in St. Paul because it’s our patronal feast.”
Archbishop Hebda said he is particularly grateful for the solemnity because Pope Francis gathers all the new archbishops in Rome to give them palliums. To Archbishop Hebda, the feast day reminds him of the opportunity he had to go to Rome to be presented with his own pallium.
“It’s a wonderful feast that reminds us not only about the exceptional evangelization of those two men, but it also speaks to us about the unity of the Church, and so I get pretty excited by it,” Archbishop Hebda said.
Peter was the first pope and Paul was the great missionary, but Archbishop Hebda notes that neither saint was perfect in their lifetime by any means. Regardless, Archbishop Hebda said, the Lord used them as his instruments.
“Rome always refers to itself as the church that was consecrated by the blood of those two martyrs, Peter and Paul, because they were both martyred in Rome,” Archbishop Hebda said. During his time in Rome, he said he came to have a devotion to them.
Archbishop Hebda is inspired by both saints because of their devotion to Jesus. Both saints, while now remembered for being devoted, also had conversions in their own lives. Peter denied Jesus and Paul persecuted the Church.
“But it’s just that sense that they were able to go beyond their own weakness and sinfulness to being powerful instruments of God’s plan for growing his Church,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I think that should give all of us a great hope.”
Archbishop Hebda recognized that Peter and Paul were brothers in the faith, but different in personality.
“Peter is a little bit impetuous,” Archbishop Hebda said. “Paul might have been a little bit on the overconfident side … and they wouldn’t always see things eye to eye but yet they, the two of them, serve so well in the Church and it reminds me of how diverse our Church is.”
To hear Archbishop Hebda talk more about his time in Rome and his devotion to Peter and Paul, tune into the “Practicing Catholic” episode that debuts at 9 p.m. June 28 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. June 29 and 2 p.m. June 30.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the program also includes a discussion with Deacons Larry Lawinger and Dan Gannon who recap the biannual Diaconal Assembly. Also, St. Agnes parishioner Nell O’Leary talks summertime tips for families.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
