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CIS NEWSLETTER
No. 58 - October 2008
Paul, Apostle to the
Gentiles
Last June 24, feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Benedict XVI
inaugurated a Pauline Year to celebrate 2000 years from the birth of
Paul. Catholics worldwide are invited to renew their Christian life
by getting inspiration from the person of Paul and
from his teaching. A person and his or her story
can move us as powerfully as what they teach. We
can today look at Paul's life and character.
Paul was born in a very prosperous and cultured city, Tarsus, capital
of the Roman Province of Cilicia. Paul could rightly boast that he
was a "citizen of no mean city", where one could
get an even better education than in Athens or Alexandria. Thus from
childhood he was steeped in the dominant
Hellenistic culture of the Mediterranean world of
his time. He learned to write Greek well and effectively. It
is clear from his letters that he was an educated city man,
acquainted with the main philosophical ideas
current in his time.
He was born into a Jewish family, as Paul says "I was born of the race
of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew, born of Hebrews…As
for the law a Pharisee" (Phil 3: 5-6), and "extremely zealous for the
traditions of my fathers" (Gal 1: 14). The family was prosperous
enough to be able to send him for his higher religious education to
faraway Jerusalem. According to Luke he studied at the feet of the
great Jewish teacher, Gamaliel (Acts 22: 3), from whom he obtained a
thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.
How is it that a man with this background who, on his own admission,
was "merciless in persecuting the Church of God" and "did much damage
to it" (Gal 1: 13) could become such a life-long and indefatigable
missionary for it? Paul gives us the
answer: "God, who had specially chosen me while I
was still in my mother's womb, called me through his
grace and chose to reveal his Son in me…" (Gal 1: 15, 16). In another
letter Paul says he was "captured" by Christ (Phil 3: 12). Paul is
referring to his overpowering encounter with the risen Lord, Jesus of
Nazareth, on the road to Damascus. Paul's whole understanding of
the action of God in the world was
transformed by this experience as was his
knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth whom he now believed in as the Son
of God. It also gave Paul unbounded energy in the service of Christ
and his Church.
Let Paul's own words written in self-defence give us some idea of his
tireless activity and body-breaking efforts and of how much he could
suffer for Christ: "But what anyone dares to boast of (I am speaking
in foolishness) I also dare…Are they ministers of Christ?... I am
still more, with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, far
worse beatings, and numerous brushes with death. Five times at the
hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I
was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three
times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a
day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers
from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers
from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness,
dangers at sea, dangers from false brothers; in
toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights,
through hunger and thirst, through frequent
fastings, through cold and exposure. And apart from these things,
there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the
churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led to sin, and I am
not indignant?" (2 Cor 11: 21-29).
In the letter to the Galatians Paul claims that "the Good News I
preached is not a human message that I was given by men, it is
something I learnt only through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:
11-12). However, he does not mean that his teaching was independent
of the apostolic tradition of the early Christian
community. Later in the same letter he was careful
to add: "…privately I laid before the
leading men [in Jerusalem] the Good News as I proclaim it among the
pagans; I did so for fear the course I was adopting or had already
adopted would not be allowed" (2: 2). In other letters too he clearly
states his dependence on the church's tradition. In 1 Cor 15: 3 he
says "I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ
died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was
buried; that he was raised to life on the third day, in
accordance with the scriptures; that he
appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the
Twelve…" He often used material from the liturgy, hymns,
statements of the belief of the church.
What kind of man was Paul? Clearly a man of high intelligence, but
also one capable of very strong emotions: passionate love and
touching tenderness as well as feelings of great
anger and exasperation, sadness and
disappointment. It is striking, at first surprising, how
often he speaks of his love for the people he evangelized and how
deeply attached he was to them.
Listen to these words which he wrote to the turbulent and highly
divided Corinthian church, which he had founded: "By my life, I call
God to witness that the reason why I did not come after all to
Corinth was to spare your feelings…Well then, I
made up my mind not to pay you a second
distressing visit. I may have hurt you, but if so I have hurt
the only people who could give me any pleasure. I am sure you all
know that I could never be happy unless you were.
When I wrote to you, in deep distress and anguish
of mind, and in tears, it was not to make you feel
hurt but to let you know how much love I have for you" (2 Cor
1: 23-2: 4). He often writes of his desire to see his friends in
person (e.g., 2 Cor 2: 12-13).
Another side to his loving character was his extreme loyalty: to
friends, to the churches he founded, to his race, but above all to
Jesus. About the Jews he writes: "My sorrow is so great, my mental
anguish is so endless, I would willingly be condemned and be cut off
from Christ if it could help my brothers of Israel, my own flesh and
blood" (Rom 9: 2-3). Further on in this letter, he writes: "Is it
possible that God has rejected his people? Of course not. I, an
Israelite, descended from the tribe of Benjamin, could never agree
that God has rejected his people" (Rom 11: 1-2). Wherever he went he
looked in the first place for Jews to preach Jesus to as the promised
Messiah. It is only when his preaching to the Jews was refused that
he started his work with the pagans.
Paul, called himself, "a servant of Jesus Christ who has been called
to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that
God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures" (Rom 1:
1-2). The persecutions and the sufferings he brought on himself by
his missionary activity only served to make him happy because he was
reproducing in himself the image of his beloved master. "All I want
is to know Christ and the power of his
resurrection and to share his sufferings by
reproducing the pattern of his death" (Phil 3: 10). "I
believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme
advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For him I have accepted the loss of everything,
and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can
have Christ and be given a place in him" (Phil 3: 8-9).
Paul had a very high idea of his work in the ministry as an act of
worship of God. To the Romans, Paul writes: "The God I worship
spiritually by preaching the Good News of his Son knows that I never
fail to mention you in my prayers…" (1: 9) and later in the same
letter "He has appointed me as a priest of Jesus Christ, and I am to
carry out my priestly duty by bringing the Good News from to the
pagans, and so make them acceptable as an offering, made holy by the
Holy Spirit" (15: 16).
Questions for reflection:
Paul had a
keen sense of the importance of God's plan for him.
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Do we
reflect on what God's plan is for us?
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Are we
single-minded and whole-hearted in following what we have seen
to be God's will for us?
-
How
convinced are we that the one necessary thing in our lives is to
have Christ and be given a place in him?
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Do we see
our work in our calling in life as an act of worship of the
God of creation?
Fr.
Victor Jaccarini SJ
Book Review
Walking with Inigo
A commentary on the Autobiography of St. Ignatius
Gerald Coleman, S.J.
ISBN
81-87886-40-4
Gujarat Sahitja Prakash, Gujarat, India, 2002
To know and to be able to follow the life of St. Ignatius is
precious. This book has not only helped me to remember , once more to
familiarize myself with , but also to share with Ignatius as he turned from
a life all taken up with the worldly, to a life all-directed to God. St.
Ignatius was a passionate lover, first of what the world had to offer him,
and then of God and what He had to offer. St. Ignatius kept up his
enthusiasm all through his life. His life can be summed up as a journey from
the self as the centre of all, to God as the centre. At first he wanted to
tell God what he, Ignatius, should do for Him. Slowly he began to understand
that God was his real leader, teacher and guide, and Ignatius had to learn
to listen to Him and not the other way round.
St. Ignatius has never been a popular saint, like for example, Francis
Xavier. . Many would have some knowledge about his life, and admiration for
what he did achieve. This book presents Ignatius as a lovable person. As the
author goes along the life of Ignatius, he continually recapitulates what
went on before so as to present all in proper perspective. This way this
book is more than simply a string of events. It is companionship with
Ignatius as he goes on in his adventures for and with God. The author shows
how one event in Ignatius life led to another and this along two levels, the
external and the internal one, the two levels continuously interacting, so
that we are not simply confronted with a picture of Ignatius, but rather
with Ignatius himself. In this way the journey of Ignatius becomes the
reader’s journey, an enriching experience. It is a joy to share intimately
in the life of Ignatius.
It is well known that as we mature as persons, our perspectives on life open
up, from self-centredness to openness to others. The same happens in the
spiritual life. As Ignatius grew and matured with God, he realized that
there were others interested in God as he was, and who loved God as he did.
He realized that he lived in the Body of Christ, made up of human beings as
weak as himself. This for him was not an occasion for pride, but of humility
as he put himself and his first companions at the service of the Church.
This is what makes Ignatius so lovable: his experiences made him humble,
always careful not to appropriate any honour for himself, and to serve God
through his chosen ones.
As we grow we hopefully learn to listen to others rather than insist that
others should listen to us first. So in the spiritual life we learn to
listen to God. The same happened to Ignatius. Ignatius wanted to do great
things for God who made it plain to him that above all He wanted his willing
ear and heart. Ignatius became a man of God.
Fr.
Victor Degabriele SJ
Prayer
O glorious St. Paul, after persecuting the Church
you became by God's grace
its most zealous Apostle.
To carry the knowledge of Jesus,
our Divine Saviour,
to the uttermost parts of the
earth you joyfully endured prison,
scourging, stoning, and
shipwreck,
as well as all manner of
persecutions culminating
in the shedding of the last drop
of your blood for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Obtain for us the grace to labour strenuously to bring the faith to others
and to accept any trials and
tribulations that may come our way.
Help us to be inspired by your
Epistles
and to partake of your
indomitable love for Jesus,
so that after we have finished
our course we may
join you in praising Him in
heaven for all eternity.
Amen.
CIS programme
October
Irtir ta’ ‘weekend’ għall-miżżewġin
Dan il-Weekend huwa
okkażjoni għall-dawk il-koppji miżżewġa li jixtiequ jġeddu u jiċċelebraw
il-wegħdiet taż-żwieġ tagħhom. Din hija esperjenza spiritwali b’differenza.
Il-Weekend huwa mfassal li jkun kreattiv fejn il-partners jirriflettu u
jitolbu flimkien. Ikun hemm ħin ta’ sharing fi grupp magħmul minn 8 koppji.
Dan il-Weekend joffri opportunità lill-koppji parteċipanti sabiex jiskopru
dejjem aktar l-imħabba li Alla għandu għall-miżżewġin u l-familji tagħhom.
Data : Mill-Ġimgħa, 3 ta’
Ottubru 2008, fis-7.00 p.m. sal-Ħadd, 5 ta’
Ottubru fl-4.00 p.m.
Imexxu: Il-koppja Carmen u Karm Conti u Fr.
Vince Magri, SJ
Post: Dar Manresa,
Victoria, Għawdex
Parteċipanti: Mhux aktar minn 8 koppji
Irtir fuq il-Quddiesa
Kull irtir, bħall-ħajja Nisranija, għandu bħala ċentru l-Ewkaristija.
Dan l-irtir mhux biss hekk, imma t-talb stess u r-riflessjoni jsiru fuq
il-Quddiesa: il-bażi teoloġika tagħha; it-tifsira ta’ kull parti;
il-miġemgħa; il-Kelma ta’ Alla; l-offerti; il-kliem ta’ Ġesù fl-aħħar Ċena;
it-Tqarbin; u, fl-aħħar, kif ngħixu l-Quddiesa fil-ħajja ta’ kuljum. B’hekk
nittamaw li nidħlu dejjem iżjed fil-fond ta’ din l-azzjoni li ħallielna Ġesù
biex nagħmluha b’tifkira tiegħu.
Data: Mill-Ġimgħa 24 ta’ Ottubru
fis-6.00 p.m. sal-Ħadd 26 ta’ Ottubru wara
l-pranzu
Imexxi: Fr Mario Jaccarini, S.J.
Post: Mount St Joseph Retreat House,
Mosta
November
Nitolbu bl-Evanġelju (Is-Sibtijiet ta’ matul l-Avvent)
Dati: Is-Sibtijiet:
29 ta’ Novembru, 6, 13, u 20 ta’ Diċembru 2008 mill-4.00
sat-8.00p.m.
Imexxu; Fr Alfred Micallef, S.J. u Fr Mario
Jaccarini, S.J.
Post: Mount St Joseph
Retreat House, Mosta
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