Allocutio on Saints Peter and Paul

Chapter 24, articles 8 & 9 titled "St Peter and Paul"

Saint Peter was the first pope in the Catholic Church and represents for all what leadership is about. According to the Legion handbook, he was the prince of the apostles and so it is very proper to be one of the patrons of a society like the legion whose nature of work is fashioned like that of the apostles. Peter though a noble fisherman and so outspoken did not make himself the leader of the apostles but Jesus made him leader when he said "...And i tell you, you are Peter and upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it..." Matt. 16:18-19. Peter we know preached the gospel with all his sweat and blood even to the point that he was killed for it. His life was full of tribulation and yet he continued in the just cause of Glorifying God. At many points during his life, he had reasons to ask Jesus questions due to his doubts and disbelief but Jesus was able to clear these doubts and disbelief. A good example was when he lost faith while walking on top of the sea and was drawning as a result, but Jesus was there to help him out. His love for Christ was so great; perhaps, this might have increased as a result of Jesus on many occasions telling him to feed his sheep. The role he played on Pentecost (birth of the church) some days after the Ascension of Jesus cannot be over emphasized, he stood up and cleared the people's mind and explained to them that Jesus whom they killed has risen and that he will come back again to judge the living and the dead. At this, about three thousand men accepted the gospel and were baptized. After all his work for the growth of the God's kingdom here on earth, he was killed for his work. The penalty for his crime of preaching in Christ's name, was to be crucified like Christ. But Peter acknowledging the fact that he is not worthy to die like his Jesus his master and choose to die crucified upside down while fire was set underneath.
As Legionaries, we are to emulate St. Peter in all ramification, for it was his humility that gave him his position. It is written in Romans 3:23 that for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Like Peter who denied Christ three times and later asked for forgiveness, we are to imitate him for nothing unclean will enter the kingdom of God. We shall try as much as possible to continue in our work of evangelism for the extension of God's kingdom. All we need to do is play our part of planting the seed and the vine dresser will come and water those seeds we have planted.
The feast of St. Peter is celebrated on June 29 each year.

St Paul on the other hand is another apostle of Christ whose role in Christianity was also great. Paul who was first known as Saul was converted on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians as he has been doing . But on this occasion, he was stroke by a great light and Jesus asked him why he was persecuting him. This occasion was the turning point in the life of Paul. The light made him blind. It took the grace of God through one of his prophet to heal him, baptize him and introduce him to the family of apostles. This event made Paul so strong that he did his evangelism as if his life depended on it. Persecution was not far from his ministry. He, who persecuted Christians was now been persecuted by the Roman authority. His many letters are enough evidence for us. In the quest of his work as an apostle, he established a lot of Churches and wrote a lot of letters to admonish the believers. These his letters have now become part of the bible that we read today. At many point in his work for Christ, he was flogged, he was stripped naked, he was stoned, he was a victim of robbery attacks, he was without food and water ( 2 Cor. 11:23-27). At some occasions, he was discouraged, but he continued depending on Christ when he said that he can do all things in Christ who strengthens him(Phil 4:13). He later was killed. He would have been crucified like the others, but hauing roman blood in his vain, he was beheaded and thrown outside the walls of the city.
My beloved of legionaries, we like St. Paul are to give our best in the work of apostleship not minding whether suffering will be part of it.Remember that it is only when we die with the Lord that we shall live with the Lord (2 Tim. 2:11-12) Like Saint Augustine says, suffering is medicinal in its character. We are to teach the gospel with all means possible. I once did the preaching of the gospel by playing a game with my contact and i eventually made an impression on him. At another opportunity, i watched a movie with my contact to make him feel at home and at the end, he received the gospel.
Elsewhere in the Legion handbook, it is said that we must finish the race. This we should do to the last , so that we can eventually say like saint Paul '...I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. What is left is to be crowned with the crown of glory'. 2 Tim. 4:7.
The feast of St. Paul occurs every 29th of June.