Year of St. Paul begins. . .
As the Pauline year begins, I have written some reflections entitled The Heart of St. Paul. Many of them will air on Sacred Heart Radio, but I will also post them here. I already have 16 “in the can” for the station. Here is number one:
When one talks about St. Paul, many ideas come up. Paul is the great preacher to the Gentiles. He comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. He has the habit of getting a little bit cranky from time to time. Paul presents us with a new view of the world with Christ not only as the Head of the Church, but the One from whom all creation flows and finds its meaning. Where does one find the root of Paul’s passion? What has motivated him to sacrifice all for Jesus Christ? It is his heart. It is a heart that is humbled on the road to Damascus. It is a heart that suffered persecution and misunderstanding. It is a heart filled with a deep joy, because it is a heart inflamed with a deep love of Christ crucified and raised from the dead. For his heart to be fulfilled, he gave it to Jesus Christ, so that Paul could, in his own inimitable way, take on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Let us pray that St. Paul will ask Jesus to give us that same passionate and courageous heart:
St. Paul, you preached Christ crucified and raised from the dead to people of every place and nation. From the road to Damascus, you discovered that the road to heaven is through Jesus Christ. We ask you to intercede for us to Jesus. May he fill us with the same zeal that lead you to preach Jesus alone. May we discover that like you, it is in our weakness and frailty that Jesus is made known to all. May we receive from him that same Spirit that he gave to you, so that his name will joyfully be spoken on our lips and his love may burn deeply in our hearts. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our Savior and our God forever and ever. Amen.
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