|
A year in
honor of St. Paul
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
The feast of
Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, is a major liturgical event in the Church
year (a solemnity) and a really big deal in Rome. Peter and Paul are the
principal patrons of Rome. Both are buried there, the tomb of St. Peter
marked by the magnificent Basilica of St. Peter’s in the Vatican and the
tomb of St. Paul by the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls.
Both Peter
and Paul received a special commission from Christ. There is more New
Testament information about these two men than all the other apostles
put together.
In the Bible,
Peter heads the list of the 12 apostles and is their spokesman on most
solemn occasions. After Christ’s ascension, Peter was the undisputed
leader of the Church. St. Peter is thought to have been the first bishop
of Antioch. It is certain he spent his last years in Rome. How he got to
Rome and precisely when is not known.
Paul, a tent
maker by trade, is thought to have been about 10 years younger than
Jesus. He is known as the apostle to the Gentiles or to “the Nations.”
Although he never met Jesus face to face, Paul had a dramatic conversion
experience, authored the earliest New Testament writings and, through
those writings and his extensive travel, exerted an unsurpassed
influence on Christianity, particularly in its transition from Judaism
to Christianity.
Through his
letters (the New Testament epistles) and from the accounts of Paul found
in the fifth book of the New Testament, The Acts of the Apostles, Paul
can be said to have been the figure best known to first-generation
Christians, after Christ, of course.
In June 2007,
during vespers (evening prayer) for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, in
the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, Benedict XVI announced a
special jubilee year to mark the 2,000th anniversary (more or less) of
the birth of St. Paul. The intent of this Pauline Year, which runs from
June 29, 2008, to June 29, 2009, is to inspire modern Christians to
imitate St. Paul’s missionary energy and spirit of sacrifice.
There will be special events in Rome. The Holy Father said he hopes
celebrations will also be held in churches throughout the world that
have a special link to St. Paul.
Paul had two
names: Saul and Paul. Born of a Jewish family from Tarsus (now eastern
Turkey), Saul was his biblical name, Paul his Roman name. His father
apparently was granted Roman citizenship, an honor somewhat rare to
non-Romans. It has been suggested that Paul’s father wanted to show his
gratitude to the Pauli family for arranging his citizenship. It was no
small thing for a non-Roman to be a citizen of Rome in the ancient
world. Whatever the source of his Roman name, we know that Saul/Paul was
educated strictly in Jewish ancestral law in Jerusalem at the feet of
the great Rabbi Gamaliel, which probably explains his extensive use of
explicit Old Testament citations (at least 90) and his familiarity with
first-century interpretations of the Old Testament. The Pharisees had
given Jesus a hard time. Interestingly, Paul was a Pharisee before his
conversion.
The task
given to Saul/Paul was to preach the word of God in Asia Minor
(currently Turkey), Syria and Arabia (now Jordan) before reaching
Europe, Greece and, ultimately, Rome. The New Testament chronicles three
missionary journeys followed up by a voyage to Rome as a prisoner after
he invoked his Roman citizenship to escape a conspiracy to kill him. His
extensive travels are truly amazing in that much of the territory had to
be covered on foot.
In Rome,
under what we would call house arrest today, Paul wrote and evangelized
for some two years. His incarceration is mentioned in several of his
epistles. His epistles to the Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians and to
Philemon are known as “captivity epistles.” We know that he was
incarcerated more than once.
The “I appeal
to Caesar” case against Saul/Paul eventually dissolved for lack of
accusers. Then in the year 64 AD, after the great fire in Rome, the
Emperor Nero accused the Christians of being the arsonists. Paul was
condemned to death by beheading, which likely took place between the
year 65 and 67 AD. Beheading was considered a “humane” form of
execution. Crucifixion was the lot of those who were not citizens of the
empire.
Insight into
the stature of Saul/Paul and his witness for Christ is found in the
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, where Saul/Paul chronicles that he
had been scourged five times at the hands of the Jews; three times he
was beaten with rods; once he was stoned; he was shipwrecked three
times; he passed a day and a night adrift on the sea; he traveled
continually, endangered by floods, robbers, his own people, and
Gentiles. He endured labor, hardship, many sleepless nights, and went
hungry and thirsty (2 Cor. 11:24-27).
When it comes
to missionary energy and sacrifice, Saul/Paul stands at the top of the
honor roll.
In calling
for the Pauline Year, Benedict XVI said: “Dear brothers and sisters, as
in the (Church’s) beginning, today too, Christ needs apostles ready to
sacrifice themselves.” I urge my readers to make this the context for
reflection on the vocation given to all of us through the sacraments of
initiation. While that vocation can be articulated in a variety of ways,
it comes down to three basic points: to live our Catholicism with
enthusiasm; to actively reach out to others, inviting them to join us in
professing the Catholic faith to which the Lord has called us; and to
take the values of Jesus Christ in which we are formed by the Church
into our daily lives so the world in which we live can be transformed
through the saving power of Jesus Christ.
One way to
observe the Pauline Year would be to set aside time on a regular basis
to prayerfully read The Acts of the Apostles, starting with chapter
eight. Those chapters reveal what a truly remarkable man Paul was.
Hopefully, doing this will inspire us, with renewed vigor during the
Year of St. Paul, to live our Catholicism with greater enthusiasm, to
invite others to join us in embracing the Catholic faith, and in
witnessing to the values of Jesus Christ in our daily lives so that
through us the world in which we live might become a better place.
St. Paul,
pray for us. |
