Every year, for the bikers’ mass, Montligeon welcomes men and women from all walks of life, helmeted, booted, sometimes tattooed, always in search of a moment of brotherliness. On June 29, 2025, a day when the saints Peter and Paul were also celebrated, Don Paul Denizot spoke to them in simple terms, using the contrasting figures of the two apostles: Peter and Paul. Both traveled the roads of the Roman Empire, sometimes on foot, often risking their lives, to proclaim Christ.
Through them, don Paul invites the bikers – as well as each and every one of us – to reflect on the meaning of our own journey: Where are we going? How do we deal with our own vulnerability? What do we do with our thirst for freedom? What brotherliness are we trying to build?
Yes, it’s me again this year. Sorry… It’s one of my favorite times of the year, along with the Pilgrimage for Fathers. We’re delighted to welcome you in Montligeon. Next year, we hope to welcome the rector of Porcaro, the shrine of the Madonna of the bikers. There are 15,000 of them there in summer. He’s been there and told me he’s very interested in this pilgrimage. So much so that he might preside over the next one. So, for those of you who have had enough of listening to me, too bad for you… and for the newcomers: welcome! It seemed providential to me, dear friends – I’m addressing the bikers here, but not only them – that you should be here today, as we celebrate the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. These two pillars of the Church are also two great apostles who died as martyrs.
St. Peter and St. Paul: two contrasting figures
Today still, their basilicas in Rome pay tribute to their memory. Beneath the altar in St. Peter’s Basilica lie the remains of the apostle, the Church’s first pope. One of his successors is Leo XIV. As for St. Paul, his relics rest in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. A little catechism reminder, for those who may have forgotten a few episodes. Peter was this Galilean fisherman, a bit of a roughneck, a bit feisty. He had fished all night without catching anything. Jesus turned up and told him: “Cast your nets on the other side”. And lo and behold, he reels in an incredible quantity of fish. Peter fell to his knees: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. Instead Jesus called him: “Follow me”. Jesus patiently taught that Peter. One day, when Jesus asked his disciples, “Who am I to you?” and Peter replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church; the power of death will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” But this same Peter would deny Jesus three times on the night of the Passion. He who had declared, “I will lay down my life for you”, would later say, “I don’t know this man”. Yet Jesus confirmed him in his mission. Three times, he asked him: “Peter, do you love me? And three times, he entrusted him with his lambs.
Paul is a completely different character. He is the brainy type. He was educated in Jerusalem, a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees, so he was deeply religious. He was so in love with the Law of Moses that he defended it to the point of persecuting the Christians. One day, on his way to Damascus to take prisoners from this “new sect”, he was struck by a light. The risen Jesus said to him, “Why are you persecuting me? Everything changed in Paul’s life. With his fiery temperament – probably not the easy-going type – he was to travel all over the Mediterranean basin. He died beheaded in Rome, as a Roman citizen. Whereas Peter, a poor Jewish fisherman, was crucified… upside down, out of humility.
Four things bikers and apostles have in common
So why tell you about them today? Because, dear biker friends, it seems to me that there are at least four aspects of their lives that might inspire you. I even had fun asking ChatGPT: “What links Peter, Paul and bikers?” The answers made pretty good sense. But I took it a step further. I’m stronger than the machine, you know.
1. The road
You love the open road. As soon as the weather is fine, you get on your motorcycle, to go to work, to go for a ride, to travel, often in a club. But compared to Peter and Paul, you’re like the Care Bears of the road. St. Peter and St. Paul are real backpackers. Peter criss-crossed Galilee, Judea, Asia Minor, all the way to Rome. And Paul? Let’s not talk about Paul. Take a Bible map and follow his routes: he crossed the entire Mediterranean, all the way to Alexandria. He left everything behind to proclaim Christ. These apostles remind us that our roads have a purpose. It’s not just about work or relaxation. Our life is a pilgrimage towards a goal: eternal life.
Paul expresses this in a letter to Timothy, his spiritual son, shortly before his death: “The time has come for me to depart. I have fought the good fight, I have completed my course.” Our journey doesn’t end at a dead end. It leads to the kingdom of heaven. We are made for eternal life. It’s good to remember that. That’s why we all ride, whether we’re in good health, on a motorcycle or in a wheelchair: we’re pilgrims on this earth.
2. Vulnerability
My father, who was a biker himself, used to say to me: “The day you stop being afraid is the day you adopt a tree. And he did adopt two good ones… By the end, he was riding an ultra-protected BMW scooter. He wasn’t really a biker anymore. But he was right. You bikers know what vulnerability means. The helmet, the bike, the falls… Everything reminds you. Peter and Paul, who are giants, were also vulnerable. Peter had denied Jesus. And everyone knows it: that’s stated plainly in the Gospels. He showed his weakness.
Paul, on the road to Damascus, fell to the ground. He too became vulnerable. All his protections, his certainties, fell away. Then he heard Jesus say to him: “My power unfolds in weakness.”
So dear biker friends, let this vulnerability sink into your heart. You can’t love without being vulnerable. And we can’t be loved without being vulnerable. What are the shells we build? The ones we refuse to let go of? The ones that prevent us from being vulnerable with our children, our spouse, our friends, our brothers? Only when I’m vulnerable am I strong. And you know it, you who drive exposed.
3. Brotherliness
If you’re here today, it’s to enjoy a bit of brotherliness. Some of you have come alone, others as a club, a team or a chapter. Our thanks go to the Carrouges Motobike club, Mickaël and the whole Carrouges team. Even if you stay only on the threshold of the church, even if it’s been a long time since you’ve been into a church, you’re experiencing brotherliness. Peter and Paul were servants of brotherhood. Your bikers fraternity can remind you that you belong to an even larger fraternity: that of the Church. Earlier, I was thinking of the diversity gathered here. For example, we have Father Hippolyte from Benin. We have nothing in common: no culture, no background, no education. And yet, through baptism, we are brothers. He would have liked to come with his motorcycle, but it stayed in Benin! May this experience of the bikers’ brotherliness remind you of an even greater one: the brotherhood of the sons and daughters of the children of God.
4. Freedom
Why do I love bikers so much, whether they’re religious or not? Because you have that quest of freedom. That feeling of freedom when you’re riding your motorcycle is such a beautiful thing. Pierre and Paul were also free men, right to the bitter end. Freedom is not the absence of constraints – we’d like that but reality is different. Freedom is loving. That’s what true freedom is about. They gave their lives for the love of God and for the Church. They remind us the meaning of freedom.
“Pray to them like big brothers”
So there you have it, dear friends: four reasons to love St. Peter and St. Paul – the road, your vulnerability, your brotherliness and your freedom. St. Peter and St. Paul, these two pillars of the Church are riding alongside you today. Don’t hesitate to pray to them like big brothers. They intercede for you. They love you.
Don Paul Denizot.
