During this Year of St. Paul, what important lesson can we learn about Christian living from Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ?
On June 28, 2008, the vigil feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, Pope Benedict XVI declared a Year of St. Paul, to honor the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Paul. This year, on June 29, we bring to a close this Year of St. Paul. Pope Benedict challenged all Christians to use this year to delve deeper into the riches that Paul gives the disciples of Christ.
The foundation of Paul’s person and mission derives from his encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. That deep and personal encounter changed Paul’s life forever. Paul’s response to that encounter and call continues to impact all Christians to this day. Paul, a Jew, accepted Christ Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah who through his passion, death and resurrection made God accessible to all humanity, Jew and Gentile alike. Paul’s call to evangelize Gentiles was to make God known through Christ to the whole world. In Christ, Paul declares that we are created anew, reconciled, justified and intimately bonded to God. That bonding unites us as a human family, in which divisions and boundaries cease to exist.
Through Christ, God invites us once again to enter into that deep, intimate and personal relationship for which God created us. Paul challenges us to respond freely and totally.
©2009 Liturgical Publications Inc, New Berlin, WI 53151
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