| Celebrating Saul of Tarsus
In June 2007 Pope Benedict XVI announced that beginning on the solemnity
of the apostles Sts. Peter and Paul in 2008, the church would celebrate
a Jubilee Year commemorating the bimillennium of the birth of St. Paul.
With this in mind, this column will contribute to the celebration of the
Jubilee Year by focusing on the writings of Paul.
Most of our information about Paul comes to us from two sources: his
own letters and Acts of the Apostles. Other information comes from Christian
tradition found in the writings of the patristic era. The tradition that
Paul suffered martyrdom under the emperor Nero was part of the tradition
found in the First Letter of Clement, written in the 90s. Other Christian
writers such as Eusebius also hold to this tradition. That his writings
were viewed as significant in the wider church community is seen in the
letters of Clement, Polycarp, and Ignatius. Their writings tell us that
Paul’s letters were circulating among the early church and viewed as authoritative
by many believers.
A chronology of Paul’s life is hard to achieve because we have sparse
information about his life in relationship to outside historical events,
but the general consensus places the beginning of his career as an apostle
shortly after the resurrection, in the early 30s. It is probably better
to speak of Paul’s transformation rather than his conversion
on the road to Damascus, since he views his newfound faith in Christ as
an extension of his Jewish faith; for Paul, Jesus is the fulfillment of
God’s promises to Israel. In Romans he writes of his continued self-identification
as “an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin”
(11:1). Working as the apostle to the gentiles, Paul sees his task as one
of bringing the good news of Jesus to the rest of the world in order to
fulfill God’s plan of offering salvation to all people, beginning with
Israel.
First in the canon, though not first in authorship, is Paul’s letter
to the Romans, the longest of his known writings. The letter is thought
to have been written while Paul was in Corinth in the mid-50s, making it
one of his last letters.
Paul begins his letter by identifying himself as a “servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel” (1:1). Paul
writes to “all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” (v 7),
a community he has not yet met but one he anticipates visiting. Paul reminds
them that since they have been baptized into Christ Jesus “the spirit of
God dwells in you” (8:9). Sharing in God’s gift of the Spirit means that
they will also come to share in the resurrection, as it is the same Spirit
who raised Jesus (v 11). Using a dichotomy popular in Greek thought, Paul
says that those who live by the Spirit must no longer live according to
the flesh; they should strive to live according to the fruits of the Spirit
that have been given to them (vv 12–13,23). Yet Paul knows that Christians
are not disconnected from their bodies; in fact, he suffered in his body
for the sake of the Gospel.
But for Paul his suffering is “not worth comparing with the glory about
to be revealed to us” (v 18). Paul anticipates a “redemption of our bodies”
(v 23), when God will redeem us and raise us up with Christ Jesus, freeing
our bodies from “bondage to decay and … (giving us) the freedom of the
glory of the children of God” (v 21). Writing with an awareness of the
trials that some believers face, Paul reminds the Romans that God will
not abandon them.
Nothing that life throws at us “will be able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v 39), Paul assures us. It is with
this belief that Paul was able to embrace his own martyrdom. The word “martyr”
comes from a Greek word meaning “to witness.” In life and death Paul witnessed
to his faith. May his words and example inspire us to continue to live
Spirit-filled lives in witness to our belief in God’s love for us made
known in Christ Jesus. ML
Bruce Janiga, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., teaches
Scripture studies at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, N.J. He is the Sunday
assistant at St. Cassian's Church in Upper Montclair, N.J.
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