On June 28, 2008, at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, Pope Benedict XVI declared the Year of Saint Paul. At Solemn Vespers, he proclaimed the year as a time to celebrate the bi-millennial birthday of that late born apostle and evangelist. The Jubilee Year has been marked by a series of world wide events—pastoral, social, and ecumenical, and academic—all inspired by the rich spirituality of St. Paul. In this column, written at the conclusion of the year of Saint Paul, I offer ten brief observations drawn from the deep well of Paul’s writings and reflections that have come to us in recent months and years. I offer you ten gifts that Paul gives us as we endeavor to serve the Church, each in his or her own way, through the lay apostolate or ordained ministry.

All ministry begins with a personal encounter with Jesus Christ
Paul’s encounter with Jesus Christ was dramatic and changed his life forever. The Road to Damascus event was his direct encounter with the Risen Lord. The lesson for us is this—“Our relationship with the Lord cannot be theoretical….” It must flow from personal engagement with the Lord. Therefore, the heart and soul ministry, whether lay or ordained, must flow from a rich and active life of prayer and a deep and fruitful friendship with Christ, especially through the Eucharist, personal and communal prayer, and humble service. Absent these elements, the well will grow dry.

Teaching on reconciliation
The Damascus event “shaped Paul’s teaching on reconciliation,” and sets a course for the Church as an agent and community of reconciliation. Paul’s middle years were given to the active persecution of Christians. He was a Pharisee, and he perceived Christianity as a threat to the culture and tradition of the cherished and defended. He was not only a rabbinical disciple, but an agent authorized by the government to ferret out and destroy threats to Judaism. On the road to Damascus, Paul was introduced to “God’s graciousness and forgiveness,” and this became a major theme, a leit motif for his life and ministry. Forgiveness and reconciliation are at the heart of the Church’s life and mission.” Individually, and as parish, a diocese and universal community, the Church is obliged to draw from the storehouse of reconciliation, both asking forgiveness for faults we have committed, and serving as a servant of forgiveness for a fractured world. In 1955, singer songwriter Sy Miller wrote, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

Paul valued deeply the power of dialogue. He engaged deeply with those who disagreed with him through active and respectful conversation. He was born in Tarsus, a place where great philosophers of the day plied their trade in the public square. He cut his teeth on market place philosophy, and learned it well. Tegucigalpa Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez writes that Paul “remained open to the world with a will to meet and to dialogue.” Object lesson number three-the Church should prefer dialogue over fiat and persuasion over mandate, and transform culture and society through the light of the Gospel. Veritatis Splendor, that is, the Splendor of Truth cannot be imposed on others. Invitation is the heart of the matter, a difficult but valuable lesson in a world beset by radical and fundamental theocracies.

Contrary to popular opinion, Paul emerges as a model of collaborative ministry, valuing both women and men as disciples of the Risen Lord. He eschewed the notion of “Lone Ranger ministry” and his cooperation with others like Timothy and Titus, Phoebe and Lydia, Prisca and Nympha demonstrate his commitment to shared ministry. His approach affirms the wisdom of Lumen Gentium, when the Council fathers assert, “The wise pastors know that they themselves were not meant by Christ to shoulder alone the entire saving mission of the Church toward the world.” Shared responsibility and collaborative ministry are foundational values for effective ministry in our day.

He was a man ever on the pavement, an apostle in motion, a man who circulated widely, in spite of danger and discomfort, and threats to his well being. He moved among the people, and served as a model for inter-active ministry, where the people did not have to come to him, but rather he went to the people. When he could not be present in person, he sent his emissary, and some of his most touching missives come from his own hand, with the promise that I will be there with you, in person, as soon as time permits. In short, a ministry of presence guided by the question, “Who is not at the table?” is worth its weight in gold.

Paul embodied prophetic ministry, preaching uncomfortable truths when necessary, and confronting the problems of his day with courage and conviction. He was not always the poster child for diplomacy. Chapter Three of Galations begins with, “You Stupid Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” This is not exactly the way to win friends and influence people. Diplomacy was not Paul’s strong suit. But plain speak was his gift to the Church, and in the end brought the communities to their senses.

The second chapter of Galatians illustrates the power of the Church in counsel. This is the so called Council of Jerusalem, and the words are touching and prophetic. Paul, Barnabus and Titus sojourn to Jerusalem after fourteen years of ministry among the Gentiles. They are met by James and Cephas and John, described by Paul as the pillars of the Church. The Apostles extend to Paul their right hands in friendship, and recognized their apostolate to the Gentiles. The Church is at its best as a Church in counsel. There we see the nascent Church setting the stage for the great ecumenical councils, as well as for pastoral and presbyteral councils, and for other consultative bodies, where the leaders of the Church drink from the deep wells of consultation and prayerful discernment.

Paul is ever at war with his own overblown ego. He realizes that in the final analysis, all that matters is Christ. “It is no longer I but Christ living in me.” That was his goal. In a word, he challenges us to bring people to the Lord and move out of their way. “If I boast, may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In a word, we are to avoid the cult of personality and the temptation to become the focus of peoples’ relationship with the Church.

Paul insisted on the import of unity in the Church, and wrote letters to settle disputes, making personal visits to fractured communities, all in an effort to unite the hearts and lives of his people around the heart and life of the Risen Lord. Paul is the exemplar of unity, recognizing legitimate diversity in his communities, but always insisting that what unites us far exceeds what divides us. In our era there are many issues and attitudes that divide us, and obscure the Council’s admonition—“for the bonds which unite the faithful are mightier than anything that divides them. Hence, let there be unity in what is necessary, freedom in what is unsettled, and charity in any case.” In a church experiencing inter-generational differences, polarization between young and old, progressives and liberals, the bridge to this great divide is found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Evangelization is identified by the late Pope John Paul as the Church’s most profound identity. It is the Pauline ministry that is shared with all the faithful by virtue of Baptism. No one is exempt. Paul was a tireless evangelist. The vital core of Paul’s evangelization was the clear and unequivocal proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ – “His name, his teaching, his life, his promises, and the Kingdom he has gained for us through the Paschal Mystery.” Paul is our prototype, who challenges us to be an evangelizing Church, re-engaging those who have fallen away from practicing their faith, and bringing new believers into the heart of the Church. He offered a better way to those trapped in the hedonism and materialism and the empty promises of the age. That Way is Jesus, the word too good to keep to ourselves. The New Evangelization is the key to our future.

As we conclude the Year of St. Paul, we take to heart Pope Benedict’s admonition not to see Paul in past tense, but rather as a present day evangelist and teacher whose influence stands to enrich and strengthen our lives as believing disciples in the contemporary world.

Today, as we enter into the third millennium of Paul’s mission and ministry, we say with conviction – You have “fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith, and have received the crown of righteousness” reserved for the Lord’s beloved disciples. Happy Birthday Saint Paul. Be near us and bless the work of our hands, so that we may join you in the company of Jesus, who is our Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 25, No. 7, July 17, 2009.