The Day of the Lord
Dear People of St. Boniface
I shouldn’t be writing to you at all this week, as the Second Reading at Mass is not by me, but by St. Peter. Actually experts say this is not really by Peter at all – and I can hear them still debating in Heaven – but written much later.
However it has one relevant feature – it mentions me! Well, in my letters I do mention him. But I am not sure it is all a compliment. It does say (3: 15) that in all my letters I write with the wisdom God has given me, but then adds (v.16): “his letters contain some things which are hard to understand”. Hard to understand – me?!
You will see that the reading today speaks of the Day of the Lord, which will come one day, and describes it in graphic terms.
Now in my early letters to the Thessalonians I also spoke of the resurrection, the Day of the Lord, in fairly similar imagery: voice of the archangel, trumpet call, being caught up into the clouds. But later I decided this imagery was rather naïve, and in my First Letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 15), I threw this out of the window in favour of abstract terms: perishable, imperishable; mortal, immortal.
So “Peter” seems to be putting the clock back and using my primitive imagery – and then saying I am hard to understand!
You will know that although Peter was the first apostle I met (Galatians 1:18), our relationship was not always easy, and the disagreement was over trying to make pagan converts follow Jewish ways, which I passionately opposed. At one point I’m afraid I got carried away in frustration (Galatians 2:9) and called Peter, James and John those “so-called pillars of the Church”. Oh dear! I am very glad we had the opportunity to be reconciled before we met our deaths.
My blessing, from Heaven, PAUL.