Year of St. Paul
Pope Benedict has just proclaimed the Year of St. Paul, starting last June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. He's asking us to listen to St. Paul, to know what he is trying to tell us today. The Pope assures us St. Paul has a lot to say and show.
Yes, sir, this business of listening and talking to saints is an idea we have to be more familiar with and adept at. Saints are no mere historical figures. They are alive and are more relevant to us now, albeit in a mysterious but no less real way.
Try to visit the Christian doctrine on "communion of saints," and you'll see how we continue to get linked in a vital way with every member of the Church, be he in heaven, here on earth, or still purifying himself in purgatory, sharing spiritual goods among ourselves.
If we enter all out the world of faith and spiritual reality, the limitations of time and space pose no problem. Death and distance do not separate us. We continue to get together in a phenomenon called in theology as "communion."
Let's remember that there's something spiritual in us, enabling us to go beyond our physical, material and natural dimensions. With God's grace, we can enter a deeper and richer universe.
We really have to be more consistent in our thinking with faith. Our tendency is still to be stuck in some dichotomy. At one time, we feel pious and religious, and at another time, we are utterly worldly. We have to bridge the gap.
The Pope tells us that with the fearless character, generous fidelity and heroic ministry of St. Paul, as recorded in the Bible, we are taught to adapt ourselves to his mind and spirit, because this is how we can identify ourselves with Christ.
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ," (1 Cor 11,1) he boldly said. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me," (Gal 2,20) he added. This identification with Christ by all of us is what the Church and the world need today.
Our world is in crying need of an effective evangelization, of which St. Paul is the poster boy, where Christ can be brought to all our human affairs, and vice-versa, where all our human activities can be linked to Christ.
Christ cannot and should not be confined to some people, to some moments and events of our life. Christ belongs to all of us, just as we all belong to him.
St. Paul as the apostle of the Gentiles highlights this truth. And for this he was not afraid of any suffering and pain involved in the endeavor. "Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation or distress or famine or nakedness or danger or persecution or sword?" (Rom 8,35)
He knew how to be all things to all men, bravely bringing the word of Christ to friends and foes alike. He contoured his teachings according to the mentalities of the people he preached to.
St. Paul represents a believer who has grown "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ." (Eph 4,13) As such, he had no business other than to do Christ's command for him to reach out to the Gentiles, that is, to everyone.
This is what we have to understand well. After due thought, we should realize we have no business other than to do God's will. And this is none other than our own sanctification and that of all others. This is what salvation means.
We have to leave behind our childish ways, our pagan or inconsistently Christian ways. We have to update our knowledge of the doctrine, bring to par the state of our attitudes and virtues. We have to embark in a sustained apostolic work.
These duties should be ordinary and commonplace, not esoteric. They are really no big deal. And we should learn to carry them out with competence. At this age of super-advanced technologies, it's a crime to be amateurish in this much more important aspect of our life.
Whether we are in business or politics, in sports and entertainment, at home or in public places, we should know how to be like St. Paul. We have to know how to bring Christ to all.
(Fr. Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City. Email: roycimagala@hotmail.com)