Yesterday, June 29th was the Feast day of Saints Peter and Paul.

Both were apostles of the early Christian Church who  found their way to Christ through profoundly different paths.

St Peter, the fisherman, who denied Christ before His crucifixion and St Paul who had persecuted the early Christians before undergoing a sudden and dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus.

St Peter who lead the early church in Israel; and St Paul who traveled the known world preaching the Good News of Christ to the Gentiles, were martyred in approximately AD 64 on the orders of Nero, Emperor of Rome.

I have always felt a strong pride for my Catholic faith on this feast day, and in recent years I have tried to reconcile my own life with the faith from which I have never wavered, in a modern day church which has felt to me at times to have lost its way.

The institution of the Catholic Church has its origins in the legacy of Ss Peter and Paul, good men who are the foundation on which the church is built.

I pray that my faith, along with all the other world faiths will promote peace, love, tolerance and fraternity in the world, respecting of each other and excluding none who search for God with an openness of heart.

My next blog will be: Waking Thoughts

William Defoe