The Lord really did send his angel and has saved me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were so certain would happen to me.’ If there is one thing the feast of Sts Peter and Paul tells us, and the world, it is that Christians are free. Our overriding concern is not what others think, or what the powerful might do, or changing fashions, or material security, but rather goodness, and truth, and beauty, and above all absolute love. That’s what St Paul is talking about in the second reading: I have fought the good fight to the end. That’s what love and truth and goodness and beauty are: radical attachment to these whatever the circumstances. Not because of our strength: but mainly because God loved us and gave us a share in these things first. This is why St Peter can say what he says, and St Paul likewise exclaims The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. This is what Jesus says in the Gospel: evil is simply pushed aside by God’s kingdom – the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.
Blog of a City Priest 