Recently in Saint Paul Category

O God, who taught the whole world through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Paul, draw us, we pray, nearer to you through the example of him whose conversion we celebrate today, and so make us witnesses to your truth in the world.

"Today, there is a great need for reconciliation, dialogue and mutual understanding," in contemporary culture, said Pope Benedict XVI.

Let's pray for the unity of Christians through Saint Paul's intercession.

In our continuing reflection on prayer in the letters of Saint Paul, we now consider the Apostle's striking affirmation that Jesus Christ is God's "Yes" to mankind and the fulfillment of all his promises, and that through Jesus we say our "Amen", to the glory of God (cf. 2 Cor 1:19-20). For Paul, prayer is above all God's gift, grounded in his faithful love which was fully revealed in the sending of his Son and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, poured forth into our hearts, leads us to the Father, constantly making present God's "Yes" to us in Christ and in turn enabling us to say our ""Yes" - Amen! - to God. Our use of the word "Amen", rooted in the ancient liturgical prayer of Israel and then taken up by the early Church, expresses our firm faith in God's word and our hope in his promises. Through this daily "Yes" which concludes our personal and communal prayer, we echo Jesus' obedience to the Father's will and, through the gift of the Spirit, are enabled to live a new and transformed life in union with the Lord.

Pope Benedict XVI

30 May 2012

Dear brothers and sisters! It is with great joy that I extend my warm greetings to all of you who have gathered in this basilica for the liturgical Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, concluding the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in this year when we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, that the Blessed John XXIII announced in this very basilica on January 25, 1959. The theme offered for our meditation in the Week of prayer which we conclude today, is: "All shall be changed by the victory of Jesus Christ our Lord" (cf. 1 Cor 15.51-58).

Peter, blest Shepherd! hearken to our cry,

And with a word unloose our guilty chain;

Thou who hast power to open the gates on high

To men below, and power to shut them fast again.

O thou great Doctor, Paul, we here beseech of thee

Lead thou our spirits up to heavenly mystery,

Tills ends the partial knowledge that to us is given

While here below, and we receive the fuller light in heaven.

May everlasting honor, power, and glory be

And jubilation, to the Holy Trinity,

The One God, ever ruling all things mightily,

Throughout all endless ages of eternity. Amen.

A conference on Saint Paul's faith and his unique role in the diffusion of Christianity. A presentation by Father Peter Cameron, Editor-in-chief of Magnificat; and Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Den­ver. Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 7:00 pm. The event will be at The American Bible Society Auditorium in New York City.

For more info visit the website

The Opus Dei has put together a fine video clip series on Saint Paul for this year dedicated to him. Various themes are covered by professors of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross briefly; they're aimed at forming us to have a greater understanding of the Saint. Some videos are in Spanish and others in Italian but they all have English subtitles; there's at least one given by a native English speaker. As you know, the goal of the Year of Saint Paul is not merely to know the Apostle's thinking better --scholars are providing new works on this every year-- rather, as Pope Benedict has recalled on a number of occasions, the hope of the Year is to learn from Paul how to respond to the current challenges of the faith.

You can view the works here.

Catholics and Orthodox Christians are celebrating a Pauline year from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009.

A prime characteristic of St. Paul's legacy, the archbishop said, was his "adherence to the absolute nature of the truth of the Gospel." St. Paul saw the Gospel "not as an abstract, theoretical truth," but a truth grounded in the person of Jesus, who died and is risen.

Christ crucified represents "the medicine of first resort for every spiritual weakness" and thus there can be "no possibility of compromise." According to St. Paul, to be a pastor is to offer that Gospel with integrity.

St. Paul insisted on overcoming human distinctions among believers. "There is a school of thought" that divisions within a group must be accepted as part of the fallen human condition, but St. Paul rejected such thinking.

"What is the church" but the body of Christ, allowing for no divisions. St. Paul specifically denounced distinctions among Jews and Greeks and rich and poor because any such distinctions are to be subordinated to unity in Christ.

"We encounter the word 'brother' 34 times" in St. Paul's writings, driving home the point that in Christ "any other distinction is secondary."

In addition, St. Paul emphasized "the plan of God for salvation for all people."

St. Paul traveled "the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire" in his zeal to draw souls to Christ. Closely related is St. Paul's adherence to the pastoral care of souls, which the apostle freely expressed in his writings. St. Paul wrote to his disciples that he prayed for them and thanked God for them. "What an incredible difference it would make if every pastor" showed such zeal for his people.

While "self-styled apostles" took advantage of the people to whom they preached, "St. Paul took the opposite approach," accepting nothing and refusing "to be a burden." Rather, St. Paul demonstrated "pastoral passion," comparing himself to a father or to a nurse caring for a child.

(Archbishop Demetrios, Sixth Annual Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua Lecture (Nov. 23), Immaculate Conception Seminary, Rockville Centre Diocese, Pete Sheehan for CNS, Dec. 2, 2008, adapted)