Thoughts on St. Paul
Our Holy Father, Benedict XVI has inaugurated The Year of St. Paul. He did this at an ecumenical gathering in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. This was one of my favorite Churches when I was a seminarian in Rome. St. Paul is buried under the High Altar of this Basilica. My Chalice was blessed in this Basilica just prior to my ordination and t was here that I celebrated my First Mass. Each time I have returned to Rome I have celebrated Mass at this altar.
Paul is my middle name and I have devotion to this great preacher and teacher and missionary. In the A Cycle of Readings it is from St. Paul’s letters that the Second Reading is taken.
During this Pauline Year I have decided to form my Sunday Homilies from the Pauline Readings. I have discovered that this requires more time and energy and prayer. St. Paul is such a deep believer and thinker. But I find that Paul’s readings sing out to me and they also grab hold of my mind and heart.
The Letters of St. Paul show his love and passion for the Faith into which he was lead by the direct intervention of Jesus. He constantly assures his readers of the love of God in Christ for those who love God. His encounter with Jesus totally changed the focus of his life. His great zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel completely filled his life. It ultimately led him to give up his life in proclaiming the Gospel.
A few Sundays ago after the Mass which I celebrated at our Cathedral, a gentleman came up to me and said that he had never heard a homily based on Paul’s writings. That made me sad. I think it would be spiritually rewarding if all of us took time each week to read and reread and pray and meditate on the Pauline Epistle of the Sunday of that week. Our prayer can be that of Paul in 2 Timothy: “Stir into flame the gift of God you have received….”
- Msgr. Thomas P. Hadden