Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The announced Year of Paul will be an opportunity for everyone to increase their knowledge of the fascinating charismatic personality of St Paul, the first great evangeliser of the pagans and the author of thirteen Letters included in the New Testament.
A figure of relevance still today, he is a man of three cultures: a zealous Pharisee, a native of Tarsis- important centre of classical studies- a Roman citizen by birth. Persecutor of the Christians, on the road to Damascus he lives an experience of conversion/vocation to Christ (Acts 9,1-19), by whom he will be sent to preach to the world the “word of the cross” (1Cor 1,17-18). Constituted an apostle, he hands on what he has received (1Cor 15,3-5), firmly defending his gospel from any distortion (Gal 1,8). He does not hesitate therefore to condemn any announcements of a different Christianity- even if presented by an angel from heaven- and with proverbial frankness he proclaims himself not in the least inferior in doctrine to the eloquent “super apostles” (2 Cor 11,5). Today, faced with the challenges posed by the inculturation of the Gospel, by globalisation and ethical discussions, the Church finds in the vicissitude of Paul a living model of heroic fidelity to the mandate of the Lord.
In his apostolate, moreover, there already appears an outline of dialectic between reason and faith given so much space in the present day debate on Christianity. In fact the mission entrusted to him by Christ will put him in a condition to treat Greek wisdom and the instances of the Jewish faith for which the paschal mystery is either folly or scandal (1Cor 1,23). Neither mere “faith”, nor only “reason”: Paul announces Christ, a 'mystery' which demands substantial changes in the prevailing mentality but which uses categories and rational expressive means. With the Gospel he affirms a new mentality, the new Christian “thought” (1Cor 2,16), which coincides with the announcement of the cross (1Cor 2,1-2). It annuls not reason but adorers of reason (1Cor 1,19), it does not underestimate human comprehension but reveals its limits when faced with the Ineffable. The thought of Christ is the only one which heals divisions and builds communion (1Cor 1,10).
However Paul is above all a man in love with the Crucified and Risen Lord. The acceptance the Apostle encounters among the humble will be simply a brief parenthesis between the persecutions and misunderstanding he suffers at the hands of the prevailing powers, the failures and the humiliations to which he is subject by scholars (Acts 17,22-34). In him lives the “I” of Christ (Gal 2,20), faithfully represented in the calvary of the Apostle's endless suffering (2Cor 11,23-33). This vital union with the Crucified and Risen Lord renders him fecund of numerous believers generated in the faith by his “chains” and his preaching (Fm 10; 1Cor 4,15). Just as from the death of Jesus life is born, so in the tribulations of Paul pain turns to joy, shame turns to pride, condemnation becomes pardon. This is why he can encourage his disciples to be his imitators, as he is the imitator of Christ (1Cor 4,16; 11,1). Analogously he says he is happy in his suffering, which he bears for them, completing what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the benefit of his Body which is the Church (Col 1,24).
Paul's love for Christ involves every aspect of his theology. Everything is “Christologised”: God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, everything was created “through Him and in view of Him”, the very Church is the “Body of Christ”, the apostles are “servants of Christ”, all the baptised - Jew or Greek, slave or free man, man or woman - are one in Christ. To those who say they are justified before God through the works of the Jewish law, Paul opposes precisely faith in Christ as the path of justification (Gal 2,16). But he sees a powerful dynamism gush from faith which renders it “operative through love” (Gal 5,6). Each of us in fact will stand in front of the tribunal of Christ to “receive what he has deserved in the body, matched to whatever he has done, good or bad.” (2Cor 5,10). And Paul is also a model of active love for all, especially the poor (1Cor 16,1).
So his tireless ministry unfolds under the banner of generous giving of self for the Church. After the lively activity of the three great missionary journeys and his ministry “in Jerusalem”, he is sent by the Lord to bear witness to Him “in Rome” (Acts 23,11). His constant intention is not only to preach the truth but also to build up in unity, because the announcement of the gospel cannot prescind from harmony among believers. Moved by this necessity, after his Baptism he seeks visible communion with Peter and the Pillars of the Church. To them he exposes his gospel so as not to “run in vain” (Gal 2,2.9). His successive apostolate is directed to people distinct from those of the “First” of the apostles. This attention for unity which does not homologate, which remains indissoluble yet nevertheless sensitive to the different manifestations of the Spirit, will continue to unite the apostles Peter and Paul in faithful witness, even to martyrdom for love of Christ which happened precisely in Rome, according to non-biblical sources. This witness and this glorious death will be perpetuated down through the centuries in the history of the Church. The vicissitudes suffered in their body, are felt again today in the mystical Body of Christ at every latitude. (Mons. Carmelo Pellegrino) (Agenzia Fides 28/6/2007; righe 59, parole 858)
