Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle
“And so Paul was knocked on his arse,” I heard from our Irish monsignor when I was a kid. My parents would say, “get off your arse” or “you need a kick in the arse.” An Irish thing, I figured. Left over Gaelic. But the way our monsignor said it, “Knocked on your arse,” my ten year old self thought, “must not always be a bad thing.”
And Saul Paul of Tarsus’s arse was the most significant one to ever hit the ground.
We are very familiar with Paul. Have you found yourself at Mass hoping for an epistle from John or Peter or James or Jude or anyone but Paul? Paul-of-the-never-ending-run-on-sentences! Paul-of-the-pharasic-long-winded-argument! For the love of God, pause, Paul, pause! O God come to our assistance and send Paul a period or at least a comma! Be merciful O Lord!
But does Paul get a bad rap? The Paul of the “authentic letters,” sometimes called the “appealing Paul” (I Thessalonians, Galatians, I & II Corinthians, Philippians, Philemon, & Romans) is preferred by many over “appalling Paul” of the so-called “disputed letters.”
The “disputed letters” were most likely written by later disciples in Paul’s name after his death (II Thessalonians, Colossians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, Ephesians). Appalling Paul supported slavery and the subordination of women. Appealing Paul did not.
(Nevertheless, all 14 letters in the “Pauline corpus” are held by the Church as inspired by the Holy Spirit.)
Appalling or appealing, above all else, especially on this particular feast, Paul was a mystic. He encountered the living, risen Jesus on that road. “The road to Damascus” has entered our popular lexicon to describe a radical, life changing experience. The ultimate “Come to Jesus” moment.
And he wasn’t just a mystic— he was a Christ mystic. To take the mystic from Paul is to miss him completely. Now Jesus is Lord and that experience brought with it a different vision of the way that the world can be. That is his gift to us.
Few of us have a “knocked on your arse” mystic moment. But some still do and that is a great grace. For the vast rest of us, the Lord prefers less dramatic ways. But it is the same Risen One, who’s light burst upon Saul Paul of Tarsus, who beckons you and I to invite him in.
But be forewarned. He doesn’t take no for an answer and he’ll never let up. And he is willing to knock us on our arse, from time to time.
And along with Saint Paul, we’re in good company.
-Timothy J. Cronin
Beginning Jan. 31: THE PASSION NARRATIVES OF THE GOSPELS: AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE CHRIST OF HOLY WEEK (Tim Cronin facilitator)
A parish Bible Study on The Passion Narratives of the Gospels TUESDAYS Jan. 31, Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28 @ 7-8:30PM in the chapel.
Registration encouraged: 937-252-9919. Our guide is Fr. Raymond Brown’s A CRUCIFIED CHRIST IN HOLY WEEK (Available on Amazon @ $14.95). Not needed at the first session.
Our author: Fr. Raymond E. Brown, SS., (1928-1998) authored more than 25 books on the Bible including his seminal works The Birth of the Messiah & The Death of the Messiah. Both are standard texts in seminaries the world over. By appointment of Pope Paul VI & Pope John Paul II, he served on the Roman Pontifical Biblical Commission. Time Magazine has called him “the premier Catholic Scripture scholar in the U.S.”
Questions? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 513-222-1200