Year of St. Paul the Apostle

Well I'm excited. The Church just began on Saturday a year dedicated to St. Paul. He's the man. In the Pope's words:

"Dear brothers and sisters, as in early times, today too Christ needs apostles ready to sacrifice themselves. He needs witnesses and martyrs like St Paul. Paul, a former violent persecutor of Christians, when he fell to the ground dazzled by the divine light on the road to Damascus, did not hesitate to change sides to the Crucified One and followed him without second thoughts. He lived and worked for Christ, for him he suffered and died. How timely his example is today!"

"And for this very reason I am pleased to announce officially that we shall be dedicating a special Jubilee Year to the Apostle Paul from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009, on the occasion of the bimillennium of his birth, which historians have placed between the years 7 and 10 A.D."

Personally, the writings of Paul have had a huge impact on my life. With the Holy Spirit he wrote a good portion of the New Testament. These letters are a valiant and courageous witness to Jesus Christ.

This weekend I went whitewater rafting on the Cheat River in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia (actually a little town called Albright). It was an awesome time! Anyway, we went to confession and mass the evening before rafting (on Sunday) and the priest, Fr. Paul, a Passionist priest from Pittsburgh, celebrated the mass. At the beginning he turned to the group of guys I was with and gently encouraged us to ask for St. Paul's prayers - since the Apostle himself was shipwrecked. We nervously laughed, not realizing the next day we were going on Class V rapids. Though we all did great!

Anyway, instead of a homily, a letter from Bishop Bransfield was read about the Year of St. Paul. It is a very inspiring letter. In it the Bishop challenges us all to take up the mission of Christ in three ways:

"This should be a year when we study and reflect on this magnificent man and his New Testament writings. But we must do more; we must allow our reflection to move us to action and, like St. Paul, to challenge ourselves and others in three important ways: to grow in our personal commitment to Christ, to invite the inactive to return to our communities, and to reach out to the unchurched."

This is the heart and soul of ChristLife. It all begins with our own personal commitment to Jesus Christ and flows on to reaching the inactive and those who've never encountered the beauty, truth, and joy of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.

One final important message from the Pope about this Pauline year:

"Finally, there is one particular aspect to which careful attention must be paid during the various celebrations of this bimillennium of Paul’s birth: I am referring to the ecumenical dimension. The Apostle of the Gentiles, who was particularly committed to bringing the Good News to all people, gave everything he had for unity and harmony among all Christians. May he guide and protect us in this bimillennium celebration, helping us to go forward in the humble and sincere search for full unity between all the members of the mystical body of Christ."

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Father, in Jesus name, we ask that we would be servants of unity and that we would follow closely the example of your servant Paul this year. Help us to imitate his compassionate, zealous and bold heart as we reach out to those around us. Stir into flame our passion for your Son Jesus. Amen!