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Celebrating the Year of St. Paul

By Mr. Anthony Bosnick

http://www.pncea.org/

Most people wonder from time to time if their lives are making a difference in this world. Many people feel they are stuck and live day by day with little or no sense of purpose or meaning.

At times like these, it would do us good to look at the life of St. Paul. True, he was an extraordinary and gifted man. But he shows us, we who lead more ordinary lives, something about making a difference in life. St. Paul had a purpose to his life and a reason to live. And he was willing to make the sacrifices to achieve his purpose.

The Pauline Year. This year—from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009—is a special year dedicated to St. Paul. Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed this Pauline Year to celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of St. Paul’s birth. While we are not sure exactly of the year he was born, this is about as close as scholars can come from the available evidence.

Pope Benedict believes it important for the Church and the world to celebrate this year dedicated to St. Paul. In everything, Paul witnessed to and proclaimed the truth of Jesus. Today as well, the Church and the world need men and women who live and share their faith in Christ. And as Paul gave everything for the gospel, even his life, so too the Church and the world today need people willing to sacrifice so the Good News of Christ will touch people’s lives.

A celebration for all Christians. Pope Benedict also prays that this year will be an ecumenical celebration. He hopes it will involve all Christian churches, reflecting St. Paul’s desire for unity and harmony among those who follow Christ. This offers Christians of all denominations opportunities to come together to study and reflect on the meaning of St. Paul’s life for the Church today. There are already many ideas posted on the Internet.

No matter where we live or where we are in life, we are part of the Body of Christ. Christ needs us to be witnesses in our own unique and particular situations. We can use the opportunities available to us to reflect the life and love of God in Christ Jesus to those around us—even to the point of sacrifice. Our lives will make a difference.

The little way. St. Paul was a great man with great ideas, called by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. What he taught can inspire us on our way. Very few people are as tremendously gifted as Paul, but that does not mean we don’t have gifts and talents we can use.

We all have received gifts from God through the Holy Spirit, who came upon us at Baptism and empowers us in Confirmation (see Isaiah 1:6). Through the Eucharist and other sacraments and our personal prayer, we are strengthened each day to follow Christ in a noble way.

Most of us are called to live according to the “little way.” We will not do great things in the eyes of the world, but through faithfully following Christ in the little things of life, we live our faith and show it to others. The teachings of St. Paul can strengthen us as we walk in the little way of daily faithfulness and sacrifice. We will look at some of those teachings as we celebrate this Year of St. Paul. Through these teachings we will see how our lives can make a difference to other people.

Scripture passages to study:

Acts of the Apostles 7:54-58; 9:1-30; 11:25-30; chapters 13 –28
Romans 11:1
1 Corinthians 15:1-10
2 Corinthians 11:16 – 12:12
Galatians 1:11 – 2:14
Philippians 3:4-6
2 Timothy 3:10-11

Ask yourself:

1. In what ways can you be a better witness to Jesus through your life?

2. What keeps you back from a more faithful witness?

3. How can a spirit of sacrifice help you overcome those things that keep you back?

O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,
.....which gained for us so great a Redeemer! The power of this holy night dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy. Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth and man is reconciled with God.
~liturgy of Holy Saturday

Somehow, original sin, that inner anguish and brokenness that is even beyond our own doing, can become the place where we come in touch with our original blessing. Somehow our broken father, our limited mother, our neurotic brother, our confused sister and our own inner struggle push us and create in us a hunger to go beyond the pain. "My soul is restless," as St. Augustine says, "until it rests in you, O Lord."

When we begin to know intimacy with God and to accept others and ourselves as we are, we then begin to speak about "happy guilt" or "happy brokenness." Our inner struggle is no longer such a burden, but a way to the truth, to the light, to the life. How could we ever become children of God, embraced by the love of the Father, the Son and the Spirit, and be let into the intimacy of the triune life if God hadn't shown compassion with us, as we are? Through Jesus' incarnation we come to know about the inner life of God. It is in our fragile and mortal flesh that God's original blessing is revealed to us.
–Fr. Henri J.M. Nouwen

Again welcome to this mission. You may be attending or thinking about attending a Catholic Mass, or maybe you have considered attending the Catholic RCIA program or this may be your first experience with the Catholic Church, or maybe you have had previous contact with members of the Catholic faith. In any case, you have probably come to this site with some questions about the Catholic Church, its beliefs and the Catholic RCIA.

God always speaks the truth to us. Jesus described himself as "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14: 6-11). God encourages us to live in His truth through Jesus Christ, within the Trinity. Faith cannot be built upon a false pretense. Faith-seeking is one of the oldest preoccupations of the human mind. We seek to understand as best we can God our Creator and His love for each one of us. At one time or another we all may feel alone. Some of us have been rejected; some of us have rejected another. Some have come against great trials and given up on life altogether.

It is our hope that we can share the Love of Christ with you, because He can help our lives become happier and more meaningful. The peace that Christ can bring when we come to Him for strength in our suffering and our joy can replace every pill ever made, every drink ever drank and every new age psychiatrist that ever lived.

Jesus did not come to condemn you or me; Jesus came as a physician to heal us, to save us. As we all say together at Mass “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the Word and I shall be healed. All sinners are welcome in God's Church. To know God's love through Jesus is the ability to give Gods love to others. To help others find a special place in this life where one can go to receive unconditional love that only God, through Jesus can give. To find peace, true happiness in good times as well as in bad times.

"We are all in need of our Savior"

The Parable of the Prodigal Son in the Gospel of Luke is familiar to all of us, as we are all in need of our savior. The Prodigal son has the nerve to ask for his inheritance even before his father has died. Then without thought or good conscience he goes out and spends every last penny on those things that only the world could offer. Not until he is confronted with hopeless failure and a deep despair, does he yearn to return home, to his fathers embrace.

Repentant and willing to do anything possible to win back his father's love he begins his journey back home. . . as he approaches his home to his surprise his father comes running towards him with open arms.

He embraces his son, glad that his son has returned home to him, and giving no mind to what he has done or what he has failed to do. Its a breathtaking story of God's mercy for all of us, God's patient grace, and His willingness to welcome each of us home into His loving and forgiving arms forever.
"For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.