The Year of Saint Paul
(Bulletin Insert)
|
Beginning on June 29, 2008 - the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul - the church throughout the world began the observation of a year dedicated to the Apostle Paul.
In Proclaiming the Pauline year, Pope Benedict XVI said: "Dear brothers and sisters, as in early times, today too Christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. He needs witnesses and martyrs like St. Paul. Paul, a former violent persecutor of Christians, when he fell to the ground he dazzled by the divine light on the road to Damascus, did not hesitates to change sides to the Crucified One and followed him without second thoughts. He lived and worked for Christ, for him he suffered and died. How timely his example is today!
" .. And for this very reason I am pleased to announce officially that we shall be dedicating a special Jubilee Year to the Apostle Paul from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009, on the occasion of the bimillennium of his birth, which historians have placed between the years 7 and 10 A.D.
" .. there is one particular aspect to which special attention must be paid during the celebration of the various moments of the 2000th Pauline anniversary: I am referring to the ecumenical dimension. The Apostle to the Gentiles, who was especially committed to taking the Good News to all peoples, left no stones unturned for unity and harmony among all Christians.
" .. May he deign to guide and protect us in this bimillennial celebration, helping us to progress in the humble and sincere search for the full unity of all the members of Christ's Mystical Body. Amen."
|
We first meet Paul by his Hebrew name - Saul - in Acts 7, a less-than-innocent bystander abetting the martyrdom of Stephen. Meaning "one asked of God," his was a common name at the time, recalling the first kin of Israel. Like others of his time and place, Paul apparently carried a second given name as well, perhaps from birth: Paulos in Greek, Paulus in Latin. Meaning "small" or "short" in their respective tongues, few scholars see in them a direct reference to Paul's height or stature, although the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla does. After Acts 13:9, he is constantly referred to as Paul, but there is no evidence that his conversion experience itself occasioned the change of name.
|
Paul was born in modern-day Turkey, in the city of Tarsus, Capital of the Roman province of Cilicia and "no mean town" (Acts 21:39) as a center of culture, wealth and prosperity. His roman citizenship, derived from his father rather than his place of birth, was of significant value on several occasions during his missionary travels. Luke identifies him as a "youth" or "young man" in the Acts 7 account of Stephen's martyrdom. In his letter to Philemon (vs.9), Paul admits to being an "old man" perhaps 50-60 years of age by standards of the time. From these parameters, most scholars place his birth between AD 3 - 10. A requirement of most rabbis of his time, Paul was most probably married, though we are never directly told of a wife or children. In 1 Corinthians 7:8, he classifies himself with those who are widowed, alluding perhaps to his wife's earlier death. He had a sister and a nephew who lived in Antioch, with whom he stayed briefly for a while.
|
Born of the tribe of Benjamin, Paul was educated in Jerusalem at the feet of Gamaliel, one of Israel's greatest teachers in his own right and grandson of still greater rabbi Hillel. By no means merely a rabbinical student, Paul himself was a full-fledged rabbi, and may also have been a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governance assembly. As such, his right to make legal decisions would have been recognized and highly regarded, a carry-over from his pre-conversion life that would have been significant impact as he addressed pastoral and theological issues in the early Christian community. As a Jew, Paul spoke Aramaic, and thus could read the Hebrew scriptures in their original language. A man of the Mediterranean, he knew Greek and was able to write it very well. Using the services of a scribe for his letter to Romans, Paul may also have known and spoke Latin.
|
There is no supporting evidence in the New Testament to indicate that Paul knew Jesus while Jesus was alive, although prior to his conversion it is clearly evident that Paul knew what Jesus stood for and what his disciples were claiming. From extra biblical sources, it is possible to back-date Paul's conversion experience - the famed episode in Acts 9 on the road to Damascus - most probably to the year AD 36. Luke gives us the only details of the overwhelming, unexpected character of this event, not ones but three times (Acts 9, 22 and 26), in his own words and from Paul's mouth as well. Foundation of his claim to apostolic title and mission, Paul's post-conversion experiences were possibly influenced by or even brought him into contact with the Essene community around Qumran and the Dead Sea.
|
Often referred to as the first Christian theologian, Paul writes extensively but not exclusively for that purpose. He is simply putting in writing the Apostolic teaching about Jesus as it had developed to that point in time. His letters all written between 50-65 AD, predate the earliest Gospel, and take us in on the ground floor of Christianity. His intended audiences varied greatly: a lone individual (Philemon), clustered group of nascent churches (Galatians), even a community that he had not personally evangelized (Romans). Scripture scholars today recognize seven letters as genuinely coming from Paul (1 Thessalonians, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philemon and Philippians). Three others still commonly ascribed to him (2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians) were probably written by a disciple of Paul; and four others, resonant with a previously attributed to Paul (Hebrews, 1-2 Timothy, Titus), are now clearly identified as the work of another. Some he dictated, perhaps over several sittings because of their length. Some he wrote in his own hand, some he merely signed. Still other letters, acknowledged in passing by Paul himself within the text of the above letters, have been lost to history. Together they add up to the beginnings of Sacred Tradition: the molding and re-molding interaction of lived human experience and authoritative ecclesial teaching.
|
From the Acts of the Apostles, we know that Paul undertook at least four missionary journeys, three circular in their routes and a fourth and final journey to Rome. Apparently not an easy person to travel with, Paul had numerous traveling companions, among whom both Barnabas and Mark found his personality too strong for them, and they parted ways before long. Amazing in their extent and circumstances, his journeys were a source of problems galore for the early Church. How to handle these Gentile converts, must they be circumcised, must they observe our dietary laws? Such concerns would eventually lead to the convening of the very first "council" and the composition of the very first "encyclical" in the Chruch's history (Acts 15). More importantly, Paul's adventurous travels would lead to a definitive break with Judaism, expanding the experience of a small community of believers far beyond the borders of Palestine "to the ends of the earth".
|
|
When one think of an evangelist, one generally thinks of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. But in his own fight Paul indeed and evangelist - one who sought to bring others to the knowledge of the "Good News" of Jesus Christ and the transforming faith this knowledge brings. Paul knew the immediacy of this message and it became the driving force in his own life after his conversion - both in his preaching and in his letters.
Paul's "gospel" is distinctly his own. He was well aware of humanity's sinful and depraved condition. Yet the good News was that God our Father took the first step in reconciling the world to Himself by sending Jesus to make the ultimate sacrifice and thus atone for the world's sin. "This is good and pleasing to God our Savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2.4). For Paul the only way to salvation was through the gift of God's grace in Christ "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God ..."(Eph. 2.8-9). This is a gift to be humbly accepted in faith, deepened through prayer, and witnessed by a Christians life rich in charity and compassion. The first step towards receiving the grace was to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5.19)
Paul was totally committed to this "gospel". It became his passion and purpose, because he knew how much people needed to hear this proclamation of good news. He knew that his own conversion came with a great price - to preach that gospel for the rest of his life - "to proclaim the message, whether in season or out of season". There was no escaping this "obligation" (1 Cor. 9.16) and " woe to me if I do not preach it" (1Cor. 9.16). He would face opposition, hatred, and many sufferings for the gospel that had so changed him. Thus his life in Christ becomes a model for all that hear the Word and are transformed by it!
Paul's "gospel" is always characterized by certain underlying principles. Humanity's salvation comes through the cross of Jesus Christ. There is no other sacrifice, no other action that can save us. To accept this reality, one acknowledge one's sinfulness and seek reconciliation to the Father through Christ. A person can only be free when one passionately embraces the cross on this new journey. The acceptance of the gospel leads to a total transformation of the human person, because it is rooted in the true conversion of the heart. "...yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2.20). Paul thus challenges all believers to be evangelists and to bring others to faith in Christ - a faith that transforms the world as we await His return in glory!
|
the word "ecumenism" comes from two Greek words (okios mene, "to manage a household"). for many, it is relatively new and somewhat unclear in meaning. Only since the Second Vatican Council (1962 - 1965) have most Catholic heard or used it to speak of ecclesial efforts toward the restoration of unity among all the many Christian denominations. By extension, the word is used in some instances for similar initiatives toward non-Christians as well.
Born and raised a Jew, Paul would not have thought of himself as a Catholic, and there would have been only one Christian denomination in his time: the ever-widening Mediterranean circle of small communities of believers in the Risen Christ. Yet even within that circle, and within several communities that comprised it, there were factions, as 1 Corinthians and Galatians well attest. Broader still and much more influential was the Greco-Roman world in which Christianity originated, a world of idols and mystery religions so varied that Paul would seize upon an altar in Athens dedicated "to an unknown God" (Acts 17:23) for his evangelizing purposes.
From our earliest moment as the Church, Paul knew well that we are but one "household", however diverse our ways. Disputed differences of belief or practice were a source of concern for him then, even as they are today, both within the communion of Catholic believers and beyond. Whether for Paul or us, it is not merely a matter of problem-solving. Every letter we have from Paul gives credence to his intense desire - and ours - that Christians live "as one ... at one". By Jim Tucker, Director, Diocese of Helena Program for Formation for Lay Ministers.
|
|
