1. Posted by Michelle on Thursday, Sep 4, 2008 8:58 PM (EST):
Will these reflections be posted on a daily basis? If so, where?
St. Paul 101
Join The Pope's "Student's Circle"
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Faith on Wednesday, September 03, 2008 7:57 PM
Envy is a vice, but I confess it freely: I’m jealous of the former students of Joseph Ratzinger who gather every summer with their friend and mentor to study whatever topic happens to catch their fancy. In previous years this “schulerkries” (student’s circle) has studied evolution, intelligent design, liturgical music --any number of things!
If like me you long to hold a seminar with arguably the finest mind of our time --who just happens also to be the Pope-- here’s our chance!
To help the entire Church observe the Year of St. Paul (did you realize the Eastern churches, too, are joining us on this spiritual pilgrimage with the Apostle to the Gentiles?), the Holy Father is dedicating the entire cycle of audiences to the saint. The series began with two introductory sessions: one on the times in which Paul lived (which he compares with our own) and one on his general biography.
This morning the Pope began to dive into the topic with a meditation on Paul’s conversion. You’ll have your own favorite passages, but these struck me. First, the pope asks us to look beyond the dramatic details to the interior drama of what happened to Paul.
The average reader, perhaps, might be tempted to pause too long on certain details, such as the light from the sky, the fall to the ground, the voice that called, the new state of blindness, the curing when something like scales fall from his eyes and the fasting. However, all these details point to the heart of the event: The Risen Christ appeared as a splendid light and addressed Saul, transforming his thinking and his very life. The splendor of the Risen One left him blind; presenting also externally what the interior reality was, his blindness in regard to the truth, to the light, which is Christ. And then, his definitive “yes” to Christ in baptism reopens his eyes, and makes him truly see.
The Pope goes on to say that Paul’s conversion comes because of his intense, undeniable experience of Christ. What changes for him? Everything and nothing!
At that moment, he did not lose all that was good and true in his life, in his heritage, but understood in a new way the wisdom, truth, and depth of the law and the prophets; he appropriated them in a new way. At the same time, his reason opened to the wisdom of the pagans. Having opened himself to Christ with all his heart, he became able to engage in a wider dialogue with all, he made himself everything to all. Hence he could really be the apostle to the pagans.
Something I love in Benedict XVI’s preaching is that he always draws out the practical conclusion: Christ expects the same from us.
What does this mean for us? It means that also for us, Christianity is not a new philosophy or new morality. We are Christians only if we encounter Christ. Of course he does not show himself to us in that irresistible, luminous way, as he did with Paul to make him Apostle of the Gentiles.
However, we can also encounter Christ in the reading of sacred Scripture, in prayer, in the liturgical life of the Church. We can touch Christ’s heart and feel him touch ours. Only in this personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we really become Christians. And in this way, our reason opens, the whole of Christ’s wisdom opens and all the richness of the truth. Therefore, let us pray to the Lord to enlighten us, so that, in our world, he will grant us the encounter with his presence, and thus give us a lively faith, an open heart, and great charity for all, capable of renewing the world.
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Filed under benedict, conversion, papal audience, st. paul
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Comments
2. Posted by Rebecca Teti on Thursday, Sep 4, 2008 10:31 PM (EST):
Michelle, the weekly audiences take place on Wednesday mornings. Ordinarily zenit.org posts the earliest translation. You can read the addresses in the National Catholic Register each week. And I intend to comment on the weekly addresses right here if I can.
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