The Year of Paul, 29 June 2008-2009

Godzdogz celebrated the Year of Saint Paul in a number of ways. There was a post to introduce the year and reflections for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in 2008 and for the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul in 2009.

Our first series was an 'A-Z of Paul', a dictionary of key terms from Paul's letters (from 'A for Apostleship' to 'Z for Zeal') with an explanation of the meaning of each term. Not surprisingly, there were 26 posts in this series.

The annual 'province day' of the English Dominicans held in December 2008 was devoted to Saint Paul and we published a report on the events of that day.

After Christmas we offered a series of 13 reflections called 'On the Areopagus', in which we tried to imitate Paul by bringing the preaching of the gospel to bear on aspects of contemporary society and culture.

Our final contribution was a series of 23 posts on ministries, charisms and fruits as another way of bringing out the rich spiritual and theological content of Paul's letters. These considered first the texts in which Paul lists the ministries required by the Church, then the texts in which he speaks about charismatic gifts of the Spirit, and finally the text of Galatians 5 in which he contrasts the fruits of the Spirit with the works of the flesh.

All told Godzdogz published 68 posts in honour of the year of Paul - 69 if you count this one! You will find them by clicking on either 'pauline year' or 'areopagus' in the list of labels on the right hand side of the blog. We hope our readers will visit them from time to time and, please God, continue to benefit from the compendium of Pauline theology that we have put together through the course of the year.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 22 Self-control

People can often be put off Christianity by a perception that it makes moral demands on its followers which it is impossible to live up to: “there’s no way I could manage that,” they might say, “so why bother trying?”

When St Paul teaches us in Galatians 5: 22 that self-control is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, he reminds us that things don’t quite work like that. You don’t have to be perfect before you even think about becoming a Christian: rather, it is the participation as a Christian in the life of God which enables you to grow in the way of perfection. Yes, the moral life is a struggle (but then that’s true even if you’re not a Christian – there are always things you know you ought to do even if you don’t particularly feel like it); however, it is by allowing God to work in us through the Holy Spirit, given at baptism that we acquire the strength we need to engage in that struggle. Now, that doesn’t mean that, the moment you’re baptised, you’ll immediately be perfectly self-controlled: after all, the Christian life is about a process of growth in the love of God and neighbour which lies at the heart of choosing to do the right thing. What it does mean, though, is that, in a sense, the person who said “there’s no way I could manage that” was right – we can’t make ourselves perfect through our own effort, we need the grace of God.

This is a useful reminder, too, for those of us who are already Christians, and who find ourselves from time to time, perhaps often, subject to all kinds of temptations and feel too weak to resist. If self-control is a gift of the Holy Spirit, then resisting temptation is not just a question of gritting our teeth and not giving in through sheer effort on our part: rather, we should seek to draw close to God in prayer, and especially in the Sacraments, in which he shares his life with us. In doing so, we allow the Holy Spirit we received at our baptism to work more fully in our lives, and thus our self-control grows as the fruit of his operation in us.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits -21-Gentleness

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength - St. Francis de Sales

Gentleness is not often associated with strength. An alternative translation of praotes, the Greek word used by Paul, is meekness. Neither of these translations suggests strength. Far too often the opposite is assumed: to be gentle is to be delicate, weak and even feeble. The concept of gentleness does not seem to fit into the dog-eat-dog world we live in. However, gentleness, properly understood, is far from these negative connotations. To be gentle is to be in control of oneself. It is to have a balanced and tranquil spirit. It is to be even-tempered, and to have hold over the passions. The gentle person is the master of their strength and power. The Latin Vulgate expresses this by using the compound mansuetudo - being accustomed to taming the hand. Gentleness is being appropriately restrained in our actions and words, especially in our interactions with other people. We all recognize how hard it is to practise this virtue. Sartre said “hell is other people” and all too often we might feel that he is right. But because it is difficult we need the Holy Spirit to aid us in being gentle.

Gentleness, however, does not turn us into punching-bags for the world. Whilst we must always be willing to pardon offences; we must also be able fraternally to correct faults gently and with love. Gentleness helps our actions to have a positive effect. To use an old saying, 'you catch more flies with honey than vinegar'. It is a sign of real and true strength to be able to act with restraint and gentleness, and the Holy Spirit allows us to overcome all obstacles to this practice. Like the message to Elijah the Gospel will not be proclaimed by great winds, earthquakes, or fire but by the whistling of gentle air.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 20 Faithfulness

The seventh fruit of the Holy Spirit that St Paul identifies is faithfulness. Faithfulness is at the very heart of the Christian vocation, of what it means to be a Christian. When we speak of faithfulness we often cite the qualities of trustworthiness, fidelity or reliability of an individual. However, as we are aware, all too often we fall short of these ideals, and as we are reminded in Proverbs 20:6, “most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?” We must therefore look not so much to others but to God as the true example of faithfulness.

Throughout the Old Testament we are constantly reminded of God’s promises to us, despite all our sinful folly, and He is shown to be faithful always, as we read for example in Deuteronomy 7:9, “therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments”.

The most striking example of this faithfulness was in God fulfilling his promises in the person of Jesus Christ. In the life of Christ and in His death for the sake of our redemption we can see clearly the true meaning of faithfulness. God does not falter. He will not break his covenant with us. He will not abandon us no matter how severe our failings. But for this faithfulness to be of real benefit we need to show our faithfulness to Him. God cannot break His word but we can and we need to cultivate carefully and with commitment our faithfulness to His teachings. We must grow in the virtues and not neglect our duties and responsibilities to our neighbour and ultimately to Him. So often these acts of faithfulness can be played out in the smallest ways and we cannot hope to grow in Christ unless we observe his law in small matters as well as great.

Most obviously our faithfulness can be shown in our commitment to the Church and in the ways in which we fulfil our duties to family and friends but we must also not neglect what it is to be faithful to ourselves. In being honest and true to ourselves we will be true to God and be able to look forward with hope to the coming of his Kingdom. “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 19 Goodness

St. Paul puts goodness, or, as some translations have it, generosity, fifth in his lists of the fruits of the Spirit. That there should be such a close correspondence between Paul’s understanding of goodness and his understanding of generosity, such that it could be translated either way, is interesting because it demonstrates the importance of generosity for the Jewish view of God.

So many of the psalms extol the Lord as worthy of praise because of his generosity, praising him at length for all the great gifts that he gives to man and beast. Psalm 104 in particular, the psalm which is used in one of the prayers used as grace before meals, praises God as good because he is the giver of all that sustains every living thing. This overwhelming generosity of God is shown most profoundly in the saving death of his Son, Our Lord, on the cross, what is for St. Paul the most important moment in history, the most generous self-giving of the Son to the Father in love. 

Thus for Christians, to be good is to give of ourselves so as to help others, not only when it suits us and is convenient, and not only to those who are good to us in return, but to all those who are in need. To do this we need the gift of the Spirit, for we cannot live such an extraordinary life, as the bearer of God’s life and love to others, through our own effort alone. 

To be good does take effort, we must co-operate with the grace that God so freely bestows upon us and renews in us through prayer and the sacraments, but in our pursuit of the life of virtue we are not left to fend for ourselves, for we have an advocate, a lawyer for our defence, the Spirit, to fight our corner. The Spirit as our advocate pleads insistently on our behalf for the heavenly judge to declare our goodness against the merciless cross-examination of Satan, the great accuser, who seeks to make us despair on account of our sins, and so to flee from God’s mercy.

Let us always remember that to be good is to be humble, for the greatest sin is that of pride, pride that hardens our hearts and stops us from asking for forgiveness and mercy.  The good person is the person who, by the light of the Holy Spirit, recognises their sinfulness and asks the Lord for forgiveness, confident in the mercy of the Lord who is love.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 18 Kindness

Sometimes you’ll hear things said like “I don’t need to be a Christian to be a kind and decent person.” It has to be recognised that there are many kind and decent people in the world who never go near a church. On the other hand, in the letter to the Galatians we hear St Paul speak of kindness as being a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22). This implies that kindness is deeply bound up with being a Christian.

Aristotle describes kindness as helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped. Of course, we have to be careful with such a definition. Just because we help someone without regard for any personal advantage, it doesn’t mean we have to be miserable as we help. It is more virtuous to delight in being helpful rather than finding it a burden, but it is essential that kindness springs from a love of others.

Careful consideration also has to be given to what it means to be helpful. Aquinas talks of kindness as something that helps to cure evils. In any kind of evil situation, there is something that is lacking, and so some form of help is needed to restore what is missing. In situations such as rivalry, hatred, jealousy and discord, our response should be kindness, an act of helping those in need. But the kind of help we provide is informed by our Christian faith. Christ died on the cross for our sins and He is conqueror over all evil. Therefore whenever we are confronted with evil, we need to bring Christ into the situation.

From time to time, we see people who are non-Christian, but yet still appear to be full of the Holy Spirit. We have to be prepared to recognise good whereever we see it, to recognise that the Holy Spirit can act in all kinds of different people. But as Christians we are at an advantage because we have the sacraments readily available, whereby the bond of union with Christ is continually strengthened. With this bond of union, we become capable of performing the greatest act of kindness possible, of helping people towards what they need most, that is life in the Holy Trinity.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 17 Patience

Listed among the fruits of the Holy Spirit by St Paul in the letter to the Galatians is patience. Reflecting on what it means to be patient, I think that it is not often much in evidence today. We live a world that has been taught the value of the instantaneous. Information is now delivered from one part of the globe to another within seconds, travel gets ever faster as do, more and more. the types of food we eat. I heard a comedian once joke that the protest slogan of today’s generation would be: “What do we want? We don’t know! When do we want it? Now!”. Instant gratification without too much analysis can be all too tempting.

Yet St Paul speaks often of patience as being an important part of the Christian life. It is a sign of the life of the Holy Spirit within us. In Ephesians 4:1-3 he says: “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” and in 1 Corinthians 13:4 he says that love is always patient. God is ever patient with us. His patience is based in his total love for us and its purpose is our salvation. Made in the image and likeness of God, we are called to become like God in patience. It is a virtue that calls us to hesitate before making judgements of others.

We look at how patient Jesus was with the multiple mess ups of Peter and the other disciples. How often they just did not understand him. Patience is such an important virtue in so many situations. Patience in discussions and heated debate is important because it is a simple recognition of the fact that elements of truth may be found on all sides. Patience with the mistakes and gaffs of others is also a simple recognition that we are not perfect either and appreciate patience and forgiveness when we make mistakes. Patience in suffering comes from an understanding that God will ultimately work for our good and that the horizon of time for the Christian is not this life but eternity.

Patience also builds character, allowing us to stand back from situations, to see things more clearly from other angles and to take the longer view into account. St Thomas Aquinas sees patience as part of the sustaining side of the infused moral virtue of fortitude. It is patience that keeps an unconquered spirit in times of trial and can be expanded into perseverance. Ultimately patience is a fruit of the Spirit that is an act of love for our brothers and sisters because it gives others the loving space to change, to grow and to find understanding. And in the busy and noisy world of today, a little more patience makes life so much easier for everyone.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 16 Peace

"Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit" (John 15:5), and one of those fruits, which we receive from Jesus if we dwell in him and draw our strength from him, is peace. In St Paul's Letter to the Galatians 'peace' translates the Greek, eirene. Peace is a result of a life animated by the Holy Spirit, but it comes from Christ who has brought peace and reconciliation to the world by his passion, death and resurrection. Thus we are reminded in the Mass of the words of the Risen Lord: "Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you" (see John 14:27; 20:19-23).

These words of the Lord teach us that the life which is conformed to the Cross of the Lord, which becomes more Christ-like, receives Christ's peace. And what is the peace Paul has in mind? In Philippians 2:2 he asks the Philippians to be "of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind", this being the one mind of Jesus Christ. It is thus that St Paul exhorts the Philippians to put aside their quarrels and pride, and to imitate the Lord's humility who emptied himself of his equality with God and became a slave and was obedient even to the point of accepting death on a Cross (see Philippians 2:1-18). Hence, peace is being ordered to the mind of Christ which "in humility [counts] others better than [ourselves]".

It is in view of this Christ-centred orientation that St Augustine says that "peace is the tranquility of order". Because peace is ordered towards Christ and the eternal Good it is unlike worldly peace which is more like "a break between wars". Christ's peace infinitely surpasses the fragility of our uneasy treaties and efforts at a truce. It is ordered towards lasting joy in heaven. It is true, never deceptive, and as St Thomas Aquinas notes, it assures peace within ourselves, and in our relationships and surroundings. Such peace, of course, is the peace that the saints enjoy in heaven, and which is ultimately the goal of all our human aspirations for peace. It is not mere coincidence that the universal symbol for peace is a dove, which is also a way of depicting the Holy Spirit, the giver of true peace.

For perfect peace - conformity with Christ - comes not by our efforts but because of Who has been given to us in baptism. The peace which the Risen Christ leaves us is a Person: it is the Holy Spirit, whose work is peace, for the Spirit orders all things according to the mind of Christ. As the Lord said, "he will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you" (John 16:14). And so, the peace of Christ is ours, who are called to be saints (see Romans 1:7) and who have been given the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit is the fruit of the unity and love of the Father and the Son, and he is the one who makes us Christians of one heart and mind with Christ, who is perfectly ordered to the will of the Father. Thus, St Paul urges us to "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3), for peace - with the unity, concord and harmony that it entails - is a sign of the Spirit at work in our lives and in our Christian communities. Therefore, Christ said: "you will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16), and one fruit St Paul desired for his churches, and which we pray for repeatedly, at every Mass, is peace.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 15 Joy

Joy comes second in St Paul’s list of the ninefold fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). And, indeed, joy should be the prevailing mood of Christians. The whole Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of joy, for Christ announced and fulfilled what was promised in the Old Testament, the kingdom of God. In Rom 14:17 St Paul writes that the kingdom of God is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. Christians have therefore good reason to be joyful.

But we can ask whether every form of joy is really a fruit of the Spirit. Christ says “you will know them by their fruits”. Is joy therefore an unmistakable sign? The Book of Proverbs (14:13) states that laughter sometimes hides sadness; and we know also from our own experience that not every “joy” – as, for example, malicious joy (cf. Proverbs 24:17) – deserves this name.

For St Thomas Aquinas joy is something only human beings can experience. An animal can have delight but no joy, because “we do not speak of joy except when delight follows reason; and so we do not ascribe joy to irrational animals”. There is no joy in merely sensual matters. The object of joy, however, is an apprehended good. There is so much good around us and we are invited by God, the creator of all that is good, to enjoy it: the beauty of nature, art and music, but also science and our knowledge of it. All this can be grasped and enjoyed by a rational human mind and can impart to us a deep joy.

When St Paul writes about joy he has primarily another, even higher form in mind, namely a spiritual joy which comes from communion with God himself whose redeemed children we are. It brings about not only a delight but also peace in our hearts despite all difficulties and even sufferings in this world. St Paul writes to the Church in Corinth “I am overjoyed in all our affliction” (2 Cor 7:4). This is the kind of peace only God’s Spirit can give in the firm belief that there is another world of which this life is only a foretaste.

But we can assume that St Paul also had a natural human expression of joy in mind when he wrote “my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord” (Phil 3:1). As God’s beloved children we do not have to be afraid, because we know that we are redeemed through Christ’s death and resurrection. Therefore we should not feel gloomy but enjoy what God has given us and share this joy with others.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 14 Discernment

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

In St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, in the course of a list of the gifts given believers by the Holy Spirit, he mentions the gift of the discernment of spirits. It is spoken of in the context of spiritual gifts. What exactly does he mean by discernment of spirits? The ability to discern is a very important ability. Every day we have to discern between various choices we are faced with: should I marry this person, should I support this person, what kind of life am I attracted to or feel called to, etc. There is a multiplicity of things we must discern every day, and as believers we often ask the Holy Spirit, that divine spirit of truth and wisdom, to help us. Indeed we pray that we are able to make wise choices.

But what exactly was St Paul speaking of in this particular passage when he refers to the gift of discernment of spirits? At the time Paul was writing to the Corinthians such charismatic gifts were very common in the church of Corinth, and indeed were seen as proof of God’s activity in the church. In the Hellenistic world at the time forms of ecstasy were highly esteemed. It seems that the faithful of Corinth were seeing such gifts as an end in themselves, rather than using them for the good of the church community, perhaps even regarding the possession of such a gift as something to boast about personally. Paul doesn’t dispute the divine origin of the gifts, but he does want the faithful to recognise that such gifts are supposed to work in harmony for the good of the entire church. The gift of discernment is a gift that enables us to see what is really from God, and for the good of the church, and what is not. As Christians we ought to put our gifts at the service of the church, and to work in harmony with other Christians and their gifts for the building up of the church.

Ministries, Charisms and Fruits - 13 Interpretation

Our last post spoke of the gift of tongues as a charismatic gift, which manifested itself in the early Church at the time of St. Paul, and was seen as an important way in which the Holy Spirit worked in the Church. Indeed, there are signs that this gift is still given in the Church today, especially amongst those who are part of the charismatic movements. It is a gift that is often regarded with much suspicion by onlookers. It expresses itself as people speaking a series of words that to our ears seem to make no sense. What possible use could this be?

This question is one which was very important also in the time of St Paul. The First Letter to the Corinthians, in speaking of the many gifts, names 'the interpretation of tongues' as an important part of the whole range of gifts (1 Cor 12:10). We see how the gift of tongues is of no use unless the words spoken can be interpreted. Words should never be empty and meaningless, because this is a misuse of language. After all, words are only of use as a way of communicating, and, as such, an individual who speaks in a way that cannot be understood is not communicating at all. The tongues must be interpreted, and this is a gift in itself. This is just one of many ways in which we see how firmly Paul believes that the Christian life is not simply about the individual, but individuals united in a common belief in Jesus Christ, and living a life shaped by that belief.

There are different opinions about the charismatic gifts in today's Church. Nevertheless, there is much that all of us can learn from Paul's writings on the subject. After naming the charismatic gifts, he goes on to show how important it is that, whatever our gifts are, they are used for the building up of the Church. All the members of the Church have a range of gifts, and no two individuals are the same. This reality shows both how important and valued each and every individual is to God and to the Church, yet also how the individual forms part of the whole, and is dependent on the others. As part of the whole which is the body of Christ, the Church, we find both our dignity as individuals and a way of self-transcendence which makes us capable of more than we could ever imagine.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 12 Tongues

The gift of tongues is a supernatural gift that was given for the aid of the further preaching of the Gospel following Ascension and Pentecost. St Luke relates the events of that first Pentecost, telling us that one hundred and twenty disciples of Galilean origin were heard to speak in a variety of diverse tongues according as the Holy Spirit had given them to speak. Approximately three thousand people were brought together at that time, representing two religious classes, Jews and proselytes, from fifteen different nations, seen to be symbolic of every nation under Heaven. Those present were confounded in mind, for each heard the wonderful things of God spoken in his own tongue. Many thought the disciples were grossly inebriated but St Peter justified this anomaly by explaining it in the light of prophecy as a sign of the last times (cf. Acts 2:1-15)

St Paul was a witness to the operation of the same, or a related, gift at Ephesus. He directs the Corinthians to employ nothing but articulate and plain speech in their use of the gift of tongues, and also to refrain from its use in Church unless what is said can be grasped by the unlearned (cf. 1 Cor 14). No tongue is genuine without the voice of interpretation and to use tongues in this way Paul considers to be the act of a barbarian. He considers that the impulse to praise God in one or more strange tongues should come from the Holy Spirit and counts it as an inferior gift, granting it a penultimate place in a list of eight charismata. In effect Paul teaches that it is a mere sign, meant not for believers but only for unbelievers.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 11 Miracles

St Paul’s inclusion of miracle-working among the gifts of the Holy Spirit which he lists in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12: 10) might seem rather strange: it certainly seems rather less common than those of wisdom, knowledge and faith which he mentions in the same chapter of that letter. Indeed, some people find talk of miracles to be one of the factors which puts them off Christianity: it’s all pious mumbo-jumbo, they say, and anyone who takes modern science seriously just can’t believe in that sort of thing.

Of course, as Christians we should not be afraid of scientific progress: the more scientific discoveries can explain, the more we can wonder at the amazing complexities of the natural order which we believe to be established by God the Creator of all that is. To ignore or disregard that (and so to explain everything in terms of immediate divine intervention) is not only to downplay the truly miraculous, but also to reject the glory of the natural order which is no less the work of God. And yet at the same time it seems clear that some occurrences completely defy a natural explanation, and it it is to these that we rightly ascribe the term ‘miracle’, a source of wonder: if we truly believe that God creates and sustains in being all that exists, then it makes sense that He can determine how it all works not only in general, but also in particular cases.

Thus for St Paul, miracles are not a disincentive to belief, but rather a sign of God’s power (cf. Gal 3: 5). But how does wonder-working as a gift of the Holy Spirit fit into all this? Just because God can work wonders, that doesn’t explain why he might allow human beings to exercise this power. In Galatians 3: 5 it is clear that, as with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the gift of working miracles is a sign of a person’s living faith which allows God to work through them. This in turn reminds us of Our Lord’s teaching that faith the size of a mustard seed will move mountains (Matt 17: 20), and that whatever we ask of the Father in his name will be given us (John 16: 23): God wills that his power be exercised through human beings.

People might ask why, if this is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, there isn’t much evidence of wonder-working in your average Catholic parish. To this we might respond first of all, as St Paul does, that not all are called to fulfil the same function in the Church (cf. 1 Cor 12: 28). At the same time we might note saints throughout the Church’s history who have borne during their lifetime the name of 'Thaumaturge' (or 'wonder-worker') because of this particular gift of the Holy Spirit which has been given to them. Examples are St Nicholas in the 4^th century, St Andrew Corsini in the 14^th, and, in the last century, St Pius of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio. Still, we should not all expect to be like them. St Paul teaches us in that same first letter to the Corinthians to appreciate the variety of gifts and ministries in the Church, not jealously seeking any of them, but gratefully receiving them as God’s gifts. What we should strive for most of all, as he reminds us, is that greatest gift of the Holy Spirit which surpasses even the gift of working miracles, namely the gift of love (1 Cor 12:31-13:13).

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits -10 Serving

Service is central to the Christian life. We are called to follow our Lord in a life of service to God and our fellow man. The gift of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Romans 12:7 is a specific type of service, which may not be obvious from the English translation. St. Paul uses the Greek work diakonia. This word refers to administration within the Church. In the context of the early Church this would concern the distribution of alms and material aid. As the Church grew, the application of this gift grew and diversified. Today the Roman Curia, the central governing body of the Roman Catholic Church, coordinates and provides the necessary central organization for the correct functioning of the Church and the achievement of its goals. But it is only the tip of an administrative colossus which consists of the curiae of the individual dioceses and orders, the episcopal conferences, parish councils, group coordinators and many more sub-divisions. Of course the original need for administrators - the distribution of aid, material, educational and spiritual - still exists and has grown. The Catholic Church is the oldest and largest provider of aid in the world. Every branch of the Church has need of administration to ensure an effective and successful mission.

Administrators and bureaucrats do not have the best reputation. They are often caricatured as faceless, legalistic bean-counters or at worst scheming, calculating, powers-behind-the-throne. It is a sad fact but all too often these stereotypes are realised in individuals, such as wily cardinals and corrupt parish treasurers. Bureaucrats are necessary for the organisation of a community. They are not however a necessary evil we must tolerate. They should benefit the society that they serve and promote the common good. The Christian administrator does not only serve a human community but the Body of Christ. The Christian administrator, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, must follow Christ’s example of humble and selfless service. The Holy Spirit bestows not only the talent for organising, maintaining and administrating but also a sense of duty to the people of God.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 9 Administration

Administration is an inescapable part of most of our lives and one that is often likely to raise a grimace at the mere mention of the word. The phone calls that have to be returned, the emails that have to be sent, the meetings we have to attend, rotas to organise and budgets to complete are all part of everyday life for many of us. This, of course, all takes time, patience and organisation. It is easy for us to lose sight of the ‘bigger picture’ and feel overwhelmed by administrative affairs and forget the true purpose behind it all. We may even hark back to a time when everything seemed so much simpler …

In religious life there is a particular temptation is to see these day-to-day affairs not as simply taxing but as an actual impediment to the spiritual dimension of our lives. In 1 Corinthians 12:28, however, we learn that this is far from the view we should hold and that the spiritual gift of administration is indeed vital in building, strengthening and maintaining the Church on earth:

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

It is clear from this passage that it is the Spirit that furnishes us with the ability to build up the Kingdom and that administration has been a vital component of the Church since its very inception. We must also recognise that there are those especially granted with the gift of being able to administer effectively. Whilst it is vital that we all play our part we must recognise those among us with special talents in this area, and ensure that they are encouraged and productively employed and supported, for without them the task of building the Body of Christ would suffer immeasurably. It is important, therefore, that we remember our duty to use our spiritual gifts to carry out Christ’s plans on earth.

Prudence, as a cardinal virtue, is essential for an effective administrator. As St Thomas makes clear in the Summa this virtue of the practical intellect is required to make the assessments that take us from the end desired through possible means of choice and thence to command or precept. In other words deliberation, judgement and command are vital in effective administration. If we can cultivate this virtue in particular we shall find, with God’s grace that we are ever more able to labour productively as Christ’s co-workers in helping to build the reality of his kingdom on earth.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 8 Healing

Of all the charismatic gifts that St. Paul describes, the gift of healing is probably the one which might, at first, appear least relevant to our modern world.  Even prophecy seems less obscure, since we can probably think of Christians who seem to have a certain wisdom for discerning what will be the end result of a particular situation.  How many of us can say that we have witnessed someone being healed by another Christian? Well, it depends on what exactly we mean by healing.

While the most obvious form of the gift of healing is the ability to heal physical ailments, this need not be the only form that the gift of healing might take.  There are those within the Church, most of us have met one of them, who have a great gift for healing the psychological and emotional wounds of others.  Just getting one of these people to listen to our problems or hearing their advice can be like a balm to the soul, and we know then and there that the Holy Spirit is working through this graced individual.  However, we should not completely exclude the power to heal physically from our consideration.  Certainly in the Acts of the Apostles we read about an extraordinary outpouring of love personified, the Holy Spirit, where after Pentecost the disciples are able to heal the sick through the laying on of hands, the anointing with oil and perhaps most astonishingly, simply uttering the holy name of Our Lord and Saviour.

These miracles are recounted with a frequency that gives the impression that they became almost routine, an expected part of the life of the Church.  This certainly seems to be the case in St. Paul, since he includes the gift of healing in his list of the gifts given by the Spirit.  St. Paul had himself experienced the gift of healing when he was cured of his blindness by Ananias (Acts 9:12) when he laid his hands on him.  Furthermore, those who have been given the gift of healing, while they may be rare, are not unknown in our time.  There are many who claim to have been cured of various physical ailments through the prayers of healers at Catholic charismatic events, for example.

Thus while the reason why the gift of healing seems to occur much less frequently in our own day than in the time of the apostolic age may remain a mystery to us whilst we remain on this earth, we do know that prayer is an incredibly powerful force for good in this world.  It is therefore our job as Christians to intercede to our heavenly Father, who never neglects to answer our prayers, on behalf of those who suffer in body and soul.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 7 Love

In the book of Deuteronomy we hear the great commandment "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deut 6:4-7), and this is a commandment that Jesus himself repeats in all three Synoptic Gospels. Love is central to the Christian life, and St Paul is keen to emphasise this: "if I am without love, I am nothing. Though I should give away to the poor all that I possess, and even give up my body to be burned - if I am without love, it will do me no good whatever" (1 Cor 13:2).

This could be a source of worry for some of us - are we supposed to always act with a strong sense of affection and oneness with God. No doubt there are some Christians who do have these feelings, and it is surely a good thing if people have the sorts of emotions that make them delight in doing good works. But the kind of love St Paul describes sounds more like an attitude or outlook, than an emotion: love is always patient and kind; love is trusting, hopeful and enduring. If we can have a loving attitude like this, then it will provide the firm ground in which other spiritual gifts can take root.

Yet there are attitudes and emotions that prevent us from loving properly - boastfulness, jealousy, conceit, rudeness and delight in wrongdoing, are all incompatible with love. These negative emotions and attitudes need to be done away with, but how do we get rid of them? St Paul says ‘All who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified self with all its passions and desires’ (Gal 5:24). By turning to Christ crucified, we can be freed from all those selfish passions and desires that prevent us from truly loving God.

But true love isn’t just about getting rid of negative passions. St Paul also says love 'finds its joy in the truth' (1 Cor 13:6). Thus true love is located in the highest part of the human soul, the intellect. In our mental appreciation and in our voluntary resolve, God should stand above everything else. From this appreciation and resolve all other love flows. When we love goodness and truth in God then we can love all of His creation through Him.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 6 Faith

One of the constant themes in the writings of St Paul is the central role of faith. In 1 Cor 12:9, he speaks of faith as one of the manifestations of the Spirit given for the common good. In his letter to the Romans, Paul insists that righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ from first to last. No one will be saved by works or by following the requirements of the law. In Romans, Paul certainly says that there is a value in the law. They are the very words of God. But what God truly wants is not merely outward or physical signs and actions but the total obedience of the heart. Faith is not just faith in God but about believing and trusting that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead and glorified him at his right hand, will raise us also to enjoy a glorious inheritance. Paul puts forward Abraham as the model of faith because he trusted that God would be utterly faithful to his promise to make him the father of many nations.

This faith, which is the free and loving gift of God’s grace, is the total obedience to God and not just intellectual assent. Thus this faith calls us to imitate Christ more closely who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). It is by the obedience of faith that we become truly free. Sin, which has its root in disobedience to God, makes us slaves and burdens us. Faith is our liberation: “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Faith must involve the total transformation of a person's life. It must transform what we do and say each day. We are to put on “the new self, created to be like God in holiness and righteousness”. (Eph 4:24).

But how are people to believe if others do not answer the call to go out and preach the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ? “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Rom 10:14). What greater joy can someone share with another than the good news about their faith in Christ? “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” (Rom 10:15).

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 5 Knowledge

The "word of knowledge" (logos gnoseos) is only mentioned once in St Paul's letters, in 1 Corinthians 12:8. Its context in this letter is important, for the Corinthian church was noted for being "enriched in [Christ] with all speech and all knowledge" (1 Cor 1:5). And yet, Corinth was a Christian community marked by quarrels, dissent and manifest disunity during the Eucharist. Clearly, the Corinthians' gifts of prophecy and knowledge were not enough to unite them in Christ. For knowledge, although a gift of the Spirit, is "imperfect" (1 Cor 13:9) because we do not, in this life, ever possess perfect knowledge. More importantly, we do not always possess those virtues that help us to use this knowledge well.

But what does Paul mean by 'knowledge'? He explains that knowledge is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us in baptism, and who "searches everything, even the depths of God"(1 Cor 2:10). Thus the Holy Spirit, who alone comprehends the thoughts of God, teaches and makes comprehensible to the human mind the spiritual things of God. However, knowledge, which is only given to some, is meant to be used at the service of the Church, "for the common good" (1 Cor 12:7). Paul uses the analogy of the one body with many members, co-ordinating together and serving the whole. So, no one member can be more important than the other, and thus no spiritual gift ought to be used selfishly. Rather, we are called to work together, with a diversity of spiritual gifts, so as to aim together for love (see 1 Cor 13:14). For Paul warns that "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Cor 8:1) just as knowledge comes to an end, but love does not. As such, without love, knowledge amounts to nothing.

The exercise of knowledge in love means that we need to look out for one another, especially those who are "weak". In 1 Cor 8, he cites the interesting example of someone who knows that "there is no God but one", and so, it is tolerable to eat food offered to idols, since these do not really exist. However, there might be other Christians who do not have this knowledge concerning the one God, and they are thus misled into thinking that it is acceptable to eat food offered to idols, whom he still thinks to be real. In such a case, the weaker are scandalised and misled by the knowledgeable, and all suffer. So Paul argues that it is better for those with knowledge to forego their 'rights' for the sake of the 'weaker'. For "if one member suffers, all suffer together" (1 Cor 12:26).

Therefore, in 1 Cor 14:6, Paul says that knowledge only benefits the Church if it is taught to others and exercised in love to build up the Church, rather than used for self-gratification. One is reminded of the Dominican ideal that study is always at the service of preaching, so that we do not become academics who pursue selfish and arcane interests, but always seek humbly to hand on the fruits of our contemplation. Sometimes theologians and scholars can fail to do this, and they may scorn the less knowledgeable, or behave in a manner that scandalises the faithful. Such knowledge, then, although it is correct, is useless. But if it is taught with the patience and kindness that characterises love, and the humility that comes from realising that all knowledge comes from God, then it will bear fruit and contribute to the good and growth of the Church.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 4 Wisdom

St Paul obviously had an ambivalent attitude to “wisdom”. In 1 Cor 3:19 he writes that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”. What Paul means here is a natural or “earthly” human wisdom. This kind of wisdom is indeed seen rather critically. Christ himself confirms in his prayer to the Father that the revelation of God’s kingdom remained hidden from the wise and understanding (cf. Matt 11:25; Luke 10:21).

Nevertheless, in 1 Cor 12:8 Paul praises the “utterance of wisdom which is given through the Spirit”. The wisdom which St Paul preaches is the Cross. He writes earlier in this first letter to the Corinthians (1:23-24) that “we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” This is the wisdom about which a Christian is called to speak: Christ crucified. St Paul himself does not try to convince his audience with “plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit”. All this might show us that the gift of which he speaks in 1 Cor 12:8 is, of course, not of the earthly, foolish kind of wisdom. It is exactly “a demonstration of the Spirit”.

But we must see that the wisdom in 1 Cor 12:8 is not a gift for everybody in the community. It is a special charisma only for a few. Therefore Paul does not write that through the Spirit is given “wisdom”, but the “utterance of wisdom”. He is here not talking about having or knowing wisdom. He talks about a gift of instruction. But such a gift of instruction is an extraordinary phenomenon. In the preceding verses St Paul makes it quite clear that the gifts he lists in his letter to the Church in Corinth are not for personal sanctification. Those to whom these gifts are granted are, rather, given a high responsibility. They are made instruments of God for the good of the community. These gifts are freely given for the service of others. St Thomas writes in his commentary on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians: “the personal graces enable the Holy Spirit to dwell in us; the ministerial graces do not do this but only enable the Holy Spirit to be made manifest.”

But there is a diversity of ministries and no one has all of them. If these gifts were necessary for personal sanctification, it would be fitting that everybody should have all of them. But they are given “for some benefit”: the building up of the community. And it is not even Paul’s intention to present an exhaustive list of gifts or manifestations of God’s Spirit. He rather demonstrates to the recipients of his letter, the Church in Corinth, which is divided due to sundry quarrels, that there is a great diversity of manifestations of the Spirit. It is one and the same Spirit, as St Paul says, who is the source of all gifts, God’s Spirit. Therefore the gifts must not be a cause for conflicts and separation in the community, since it is God who acts through them.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 2 Prophets

Throughout the history of Israel there were many prophets and the stories of their lives and their writings have been handed down to us in the Old Testament. These venerable figures were inspired by God to perform a task, namely to prepare the people of Israel for the coming of God in the person of Jesus Christ. We also have an account in the Gospel of the most important of all of them, John the Baptist, whose mission was to 'prepare the way of the Lord'. All the prophets had a common task: they were sent by God as messengers to the people, bringing God's message to them. In the writings of Paul, we see however that prophecy continued to have an important role. This role was different to that of the Old Testament prophets and John the Baptist. It is not one of preparing the people for the coming of God as man. That event has already happened.

Prophecy is, according to Paul, one of the charismata, gifts given through the grace of God. The grace that comes to us by the Holy Spirit justifies and sanctifies us, but also makes us useful in doing God's work. The exercise of this gift is spoken of as a specific role or ministry in the Church. Prophets have a role in building up the Church, the Body of Christ. Paul thinks that prophets are people who have a particularly strong faith, a close relationship with God. They are able to be responsive to the movement of the Holy Spirit, and are able to discern the will of God for the believing community, and proclaim it (Romans 12:6). Prophets were important in the early Church, precisely because they spoke words that came from God. This had a beneficial effect not only on the dynamics of the Christian community, but also in the development of mission and outreach to those who did not believe.

In today's Church, the need for the prophetic ministry is every bit as important as in the early Church. Listening to the voice of the Lord, speaking especially through those who proclaim and preach the Gospel, is essential in building up the Church, and helping its members to live as one body in the truth of Christ. It is also important in making sure that the message of the Gospel is heard by all those who do not believe, that they might come to Christ.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 1 Apostles

The term apostolos in Greek is one that denotes a “sent one,” a messenger who comes with a message from another. But the word is applied in a particular way when it speaks of those who are “Apostles of Christ”. It refers to those who have received the gift of apostleship, personally chosen and sent by Christ Himself to bear witness to Him to people in a personal way. In this sense, all Christians may be said to be apostles, but the gift of Apostleship was one given only to a few.

Paul repeatedly identifies himself as an Apostle. In the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul defends his apostleship, showing that he has the various qualities of an Apostle: “have I not seen the Lord,” he asks (1 Cor 9:1). A personal encounter with the Risen Lord was a criterion for the appointment of Judas’ replacement, as we read in Acts of the Apostles 1:21-22. When we read of the commissioning of the Apostles in Matthew’s Gospel, we learn that Jesus also gave them power to perform miracles in His name. In the same letter, Paul also claims this as a mark of the authenticity of his Apostleship: “truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds” (1 Cor 12:12).

When constructing an ecclesiology, Paul places the Apostles in a position of unique honour. In 1 Corinthians 12:28, they are listed as “first” in importance. This is in keeping with the prophecy made by the Lord when we read of the commissioning of the Apostles in Luke. Here the Lord says that in the coming Kingdom, they will “sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:29-30). In the Book of Revelation their names are on the twelve foundation stones of the New Jerusalem.

Those who were granted the gift of Apostleship hold a prime place of honour in the new life we have in Christ. As the personal messengers of Christ, they share in his ministry of preaching and healing. In their ministry, conducted with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they are the foundations of the Church.

The Year of Paul - Ministries, Charisms, Fruits of the Spirit

To mark the final weeks of the Year of Paul, Godzdogz will offer a series of reflections on the ministries, charisms and fruits of the Spirit identified by St Paul in his letters and frequently referred to by him. We will treat of the ministry of apostles, prophets, teachers, healers, administrators and 'servers'; of the charisms of wisdom, knowledge, faith, love, miracles, tongues, interpretation and discernment; and of the fruits of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

In this way we will together recall the rich vision of the Christian community presented by St Paul, his understanding of the many parts that go to make up the one body, the many gifts of the one Spirit, the varieties of service to the one Lord, and the varieties of working inspired in every one by the one God. Each of us finds ourselves somewhere among these ministries, charisms and fruits. Our hope is that by meditating on them together we will gain a richer sense of our call and live it out more confidently from day to day.

Please post your comments to these reflections to ask for further clarification or to fill out what we say from your meditation on Paul's writings.

On the Areopagus - 13 The Basis of our Hope

One of the factors a lot of people speak about as characteristic of many in society today, especially young people, is a pervading sense of hopelessness, a sense that there isn’t much to look forward to and often, sadly, not much to live for. The sense of purpose and of deep inner value is often hard to find. Pessimism and cynicism seem to prevail in many areas of the media. Yet the Christian is called to a life that is extraordinarily different from these things. The First Letter of Peter exhorts the Christian to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 1:15). Christians have received the gift of hope that comes from that most trustworthy and unfailing source - God our Father, revealed through Jesus Christ. Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians states firmly that before they came to know Christ they were “without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Believing in Christ means coming into possession of a great hope.

What is this hope based on? Pious sentiment? Mad daydreams? Self delusion? No. St Paul is clear in his letter to the Thessalonians. He exhorts them not to grieve over the dead as do those without hope: “we believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again, and so believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep with him” (1 Thess 4:14). It is a hope based on the knowledge of the immense love which God has for us and which he revealed in the death of his only-begotten Son on the Cross. The tortured figure of Christ on the Cross, arms outstretched before the world, as it were to gather us all to himself, reveals the depths of his love and of how far God will go in his effort to save each human being. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Pope Benedict explains in his letter on hope, Spe Salvi, that “the dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who has hope has been granted the gift of a new life.”

This firm hope in the promise of the resurrection occupies a large part of Paul’s thinking. For him the second coming is a glorious occasion. Not only will the bodies of human beings be transformed but all creation will be renewed: “the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). Therefore we are children of the light, the light of the knowledge that Christ has revealed to us in his life, death and resurrection. We have put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. All Christians are called to be beacons of hope in a world too often darkened by fear, pessimism and hopelessness. Whatever our place in life, whatever our difficulties or sufferings, each of us is of incalculable value to God. For he has spoken to us through his Son and therefore we are comforted by our sure hope in Christ’s saving power and by the firm knowledge that “neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

On the Areopagus - 12 Neither Jew nor Greek ... a multicultural world

We find ourselves reminded several times in the letters of St Paul (Rm 10:12; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11) that there is no longer Jew or Greek; in other words, the racial distinctions made by the Jewish law no longer have a place in Christianity.

At one level, this could be interpreted as referring only to the Church: it is clear that there were disagreements in the Church of the first century about whether non-Jews who became Christians should be obliged to observe the whole Jewish law – in other words, whether, in order to become a Christian you had first to become a Jew – and it is equally clear that St Paul believes this is not the case: Christ’s sacrifice has fulfilled the old law, doing away with the distinction between Jews and Greeks and uniting all who follow him in his body, the Church. Although we no longer have the same particular question to deal with, St Paul’s teaching reminds us of the truly universal nature of the Church, where people of all nations are called to share together as equals in the heavenly banquet.

At the same time, by noting that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, St Paul is also perhaps reminding us that we are first of all ‘fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God’ (Eph 2:19): whatever national culture we might hold as our own through birth, that Christian culture which encompasses and sanctifies all human cultures and which has become ours through baptism is that to which we most fundamentally belong.

Indeed, looking more closely at these texts from the Pauline epistles, it becomes clear that St Paul is not talking only about the Church: Christ’s sacrifice has changed the whole world. In the renewal of creation which Christ’s death and resurrection effected, there is no longer a privileged path to God for those of a certain race: all are called to share God’s love in Christ. As for the Church, so for the world: on the one hand, it is clear that people of all cultures are called to live together in unity, and to avoid putting up artificial barriers.

On the other hand, the unity to which we are called is precisely unity in Christ, and we must not be afraid to challenge an ideology of multiculturalism which treats religion simply as part of a broader culture: this would imply that in a multicultural society, just as its various constitutive cultures are considered equally valid, so should the various religious beliefs found there be treated. Instead we must insist on the teaching of St Paul that the Gospel of redemption Christ offers is for people of all cultures, for in his new creation ‘there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all’ (Col 3: 11).

On the Areopagus - 7 The Economic Situation

“For the form of this world is passing away”, so says St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:31.  Paul was referring, of course, to the end of this present world at the second coming, which he thought would soon happen.  However, according to some financial analysts, this could equally apply to the present economic crisis that has rapidly developed into a recession.  Some economists have gone so far as to say that the present economic woes we are experiencing are in fact the birth pains of the transition to a whole new economic model.  Previous changes in the way in which the global economy functions have resulted in times of economic hardship as entrepreneurs, banks, economists and governments struggle to come to terms with a changed economic landscape where the old methods are no longer effective.  Whilst it may be possible to lay the blame for the collapse of many banks at the feet of those who recklessly offered vast amounts of credit to those they knew could not afford to pay it back, this may in fact have simply been the trigger that was needed to set off this chain of events.  Perhaps something else, not caused by such wanton disregard for the well-being of others, would have had the same effect.  Perhaps in retrospect we could have seen it coming, if we remember all the offers for easy credit we used to receive, all the adverts on TV about debt services, it should have been clear that this credit free-for-all was never going to last for ever.  People had been living on money they did not in fact have and will now have to adjust to the reality of their actual financial situation.  As always, it is those who have the least who suffer the most: let us be sure to keep them in our prayers.   

What is both fascinating and terrifying to note is the fragility of the social stability of liberal democracy.  Since mutual respect and tolerance of others, in our society, is not founded on love of neighbour but on indifference to those around us, a decrease in prosperity can so easily harm the relations of people who live not in communities, but as isolated individuals.  This has been seen in Britain recently with the protests over Italian workers being brought in by Total oil refinery.  Whilst one can of course sympathise with those who are struggling to make ends meet in difficult times, it is crucial to remember that the world has become far smaller than ever before.  We live in a globalised world where the prosperity of Britain depends, indeed has been achieved by, our openness to foreign enterprise and foreign workers, enabling a much higher degree of efficiency and productivity than would be possible if Britain were to close herself off.  It has been demonstrated beyond doubt that the Great Depression of the 1930s was worsened by the protectionist measures of those who thought they could improve the situation by raising barriers to international trade.  In our own times, this would not only be disastrous for our economy but would also contradict the scriptural command to welcome the stranger found in our Jewish heritage in Leviticus “The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 19:34) and in the words of Our Lord “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matt. 25:35).  People coming from many nations, particularly in recent times from former Soviet-dominated countries, have contributed hugely to the prosperity of this country and it would be not only massively ungrateful, but also deeply unjust, to make them feel unwelcome now that times are harder.  Let us pray that throughout the continuing economic difficulties, the love of Christ as shown in St. Paul, who became all things to all men, will triumph over greed, selfishness and xenophobia.      

On the Areopagus - 1 A New Series

Godzdogz has been marking the Year of St Paul in a number of ways including, the A-Z of Paul which we published last year. During February 2009 we will publish a new series called 'On the Areopagus'. This refers to Paul's preaching at Athens, recounted in Acts 17. The Areopagus was, like the Forum in Rome, a central meeting place for business, discussion and civil affairs. We are told that Paul there spoke to the philosophers and citizens of Athens, trying to make connections between their convictions and worship and the gospel of Christ.

His preaching went well for a long time, they were curious and interested, but it broke down when he began to speak about judgement and the fact that God had appointed one man, Jesus, to be judge, confirming his role as judge by raising him from the dead. At that point many laughed, others said they would listen again sometime, and a handful came to believe.

Our idea in 'On the Areopagus' is to try to imitate Paul in his preaching at Athens, making connections between the convictions and concerns of people in various areas of life and the gospel of Christ. Our hope is to show how Catholic teaching responds to contemporary questions in culture, politics, science, etc. starting, where possible, with texts of Paul himself. We want to show how the gospel sheds a distinctive light on human problems. We hope that it will be of interest to you and that it will offer answers, or at least further food for thought, about many of the questions you send our way.

The Areopagus as it is today

In launching the Vatican's YouTube channel, Pope Benedict referred to St Paul's preaching on the Areopagus. 'So that the Church and its message continue to be present in the great Areopagus of social communications as defined by John Paul II', he said, 'and so that it is not a stranger to those spaces where numerous young people search for answers and meaning in their lives, you must find new ways to spread voices and images of hope through the ever-evolving communications system that surrounds our planet' (see here).

January 25 - Saul to Paul

For the first half of his life he was Saul and for the second part Paul. He became the apostle to the Gentiles, the founder of Churches, a travelling preacher and a writer of letters. At the end he witnessed to Christ by shedding his blood as a martyr for the faith at Rome. January 25th is the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, the moment he ceased to be Saul and became Paul. By God’s grace he was destined to be one of the greatest saints of the Church, a man whose life and writings continue to nourish the faith of millions. Paul describes himself as ‘one untimely born’ (1 Corinthians 15), brought to birth as ‘the last and least’ of the apostles, those privileged to encounter the risen Lord. His life before that moment – his life as ‘Saul’, culminating in his persecution of the Church of God – does not count any more.

It is true that in 2 Corinthians 11, Philippians 3, and Romans 11 Paul gives us a lot of information about his life and times, about his ancestry and education, and about the events of his life before and after his conversion. The Acts of the Apostles fills in many gaps and there is more to be gleaned from other letters of the New Testament. But if we are to take his own words seriously, then the significant life of Paul the Apostle is his preaching of the gospel and his establishment of churches. His life in Christ is the life that counts. There is nothing before or around that that is worthy of much attention. This is because for him ‘to live is Christ’ (Philippians 1.21) so that ‘it is no longer Paul who lives but Christ who lives in him’ (Galatians 2.20). The fate of Paul is now completely entwined with the fate of Christ and of his Body, the Church.

Paul belongs to the line of Israel’s prophets for whom a vision and vocation inaugurate a new life. Isaiah, for example, saw God’s glory in the temple at Jerusalem, felt his own unworthiness, had his lips burned clean with fire, and then entrusted himself to the grace that made him the bearer of God’s word (Isaiah 6). Amos the keeper of sycamore trees is also turned into a prophet (Amos 7). Jeremiah is called in spite of his feeling that he is too young for the responsibilities involved (Jeremiah 1).

We can use the words of Isaiah, describing the effects of God’s presence in the temple, to say that Paul’s experience of untimely birth meant the shaking of his foundations and the filling of his house with smoke. He was confused and blinded for some time until a representative of the Church, Ananias, came as the instrument of God’s Spirit and guided him to his new birth (Acts 9). Then in baptism, as he has taught the whole Church, Paul became a new creation (2 Corinthians 5.17).

And so his life begins. We cannot doubt that Paul’s personal experience of Jesus on the road to Damascus and in the days that followed deserves all the attention that has been lavished on it. The Acts of the Apostles tells the story three times. (Artists tend to paint the scene with Paul falling from a horse but in none of these accounts is there any reference to a horse!) His teaching and the energy with which he travelled back and forth across the Roman Empire were the result of that moment in which Paul met Jesus and was forever overwhelmed.

What did Saint Paul then do all day? He tells us that he burned himself out in his anxiety and care for the churches. There are hints that he continued to earn a living through his trade of tent making (1 Corinthians 9). But this would have been a tedious distraction from his heart’s passion, which was to preach the gospel of the crucified and risen Lord, to become all things to all people that he might somehow win some of them. He preached to Jews and Greeks, to tradesmen and philosophers, to prison guards and political leaders, to men and women.

As an instrument of the Spirit he achieved remarkable things. He established and strengthened Christian communities in many places. He brought the gospel to Europe. He ended his life by dying a martyr’s death in Rome. He was privileged to follow Christ in more than a figurative sense. With his physical blood Paul completed the outpouring of his heart’s passion, his love for Christ, that love from God that had been poured into his heart by the Holy Spirit. He lived always in faith and love, never for a moment forgetting the grace of God working in him in spite of many difficulties and personal weaknesses.

Saint Paul is one of the best-known personalities of the ancient world who continues to teach and inspire millions of disciples of Jesus. On January 25 we recall the wonderful things God did through him. Let us, in Paul’s own words, ‘give thanks to God who gave him (and gives us) the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15.57).

A - Z of Paul: Zeal

St. Paul mostly uses the concept of zeal or eagerness in a negative way perhaps because he associates it with the zeal for persecuting Christians that he had before his conversion. Paul thinks of zeal as the attitude of a man who is focused on attaining righteousness through the law. He writes in Philippians 3:6, describing how pious he was before his conversion, that “as to zeal, [I was] a persecutor of the church”. Paul was a man whose zeal for the Lord was so great that he could not bear to see what he then thought of as the blasphemy of Christians who dared to claim that this man Jesus was divine. This zeal led him to persecute Christians and to oversee the execution of the first martyr for Christ, St. Stephen: “And Saul approved of their killing him” (Acts 8:1).

The Greek word that is translated 'zeal' can have several meanings including striving and jealously. From this we can infer that when Paul writes of pressing on towards the prize (Phil 3) he is describing the kind of zeal that should characterise a Christian. In the place of zeal for the ritual purity of the law should be a zeal for Christ and his gospel, and who could be a better example of this than Paul who evangelised an astonishingly large area of the Roman Empire with great fervour. The Christian regards as rubbish everything that he cared about in the world before he came to Christ and is willing to suffer the loss of all things in order to have Christ and to preach the good news to all. For Paul the focus of one’s desires is what characterises the Christian. The Christian man or woman does not have their mind set on earthly things but contemplates the heavenly glory that awaits those who suffer for the sake of the gospel. In Philippians Paul makes clear that our zeal is not to be for earthly things like power, wealth and prestige but instead we are to place our trust in the Spirit of Christ Jesus who overcame the world and the death that was the wages of sin.

A-Z of Paul: Yes

Although St Paul faced many challenges and had to make many difficult decisions during his ministry, it is a sign of his spiritual genius that he was able to use these situations as a vehicle for expressing the profound truths of the Christian Faith. One such example is Paul’s decision not to revisit Corinth. After writing 1 Corinthians, Paul paid a brief, stern visit to Corinth and promised to return. However, when Paul changed his mind and decided not to visit Corinth again, this caused some of the Corinthians to doubt Paul’s integrity. Could this man be trusted? In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul assures them he is not a ditherer, not someone having in his mind Yes and No at the same time. Rather he is prompted only by doing God’s will which is all Yes. The Gospel that Paul preached was that God is totally faithful; He keeps His promises. In Jesus Christ, in His resurrection, all God’s promises are fulfilled. Whenever we receive the Eucharist, we say Amen, Yes to Christ. It is through Jesus Christ that we are able to live by the Holy Spirit rather than being guided by ordinary human promptings and it is through Him we can fully say Yes to God and give God the thanks and praise that is due to Him.

A-Z of Paul: Xenophilia

Paul's mission is to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations (Acts 9:15; Rom 1:5; 15:18; 16:26). He glories in this mission to the 'gentiles' (also translated 'nations' or 'pagans' - Rom 11:13; Gal 1:16; Eph 3:8) contrasting it with Peter's mission to the Jews (Gal 2:7-9).

This was not because Paul loved foreign things as such (the dictionary meaning of 'xenophilia') but because he had come to see that the promise to Abraham of a posterity that would be a blessing to all nations had been fulfilled in Christ. Christ is the offspring or seed of Abraham in whom is finally fulfilled the promise made at the beginning of salvation history (Genesis 12; Galatians 3:8,14).

Gentiles are not innocent just because they do not have the law. Paul is not romanticizing the 'noble savage'. What the law requires is written on their hearts, and their failure to live by it shows that they too need salvation (Rom 2:14-16; 3:9). The work of Christ extends to Jew and Gentile alike (Eph 2:14-18). For Paul this was not an alternative to Judaism but rather its fulfillment and he quotes psalms which speak of the Gentiles glorifying God, praising his mercy and finding their hope in the God of Israel (Rom 15:9-12). We know from the Acts of the Apostles that his strategy was to preach first in the synagogues of the towns he visited, to try to convince the Jews there that they should believe in Christ, and only after would he preach to the Gentiles. But he was clear from the beginning that his mission was to them also and not just to Jews.

At times the term 'gentiles' or 'nations' takes on the pejorative sense that is often given to the term 'pagans'. Paul often writes to his Christian converts reminding them of the idolatry and immorality that characterized their lives as pagans and from which they have now been freed (1 Cor 12:2; Gal 4:8; Eph 2:1; 4:17; 1 Thess 4:5). They have been baptized into the one body of Christ, along with Jews who have come to believe in Christ, and have been made to drink with them of the same Spirit (1 Cor 12:13). Christ has broken down the hostile dividing wall that separated Jew and Gentile (Eph 2:14). They are reconciled in one body to God by means of the cross of Christ (Eph 2:16). The cross of Christ is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, Paul says, but to all who are called, whether they are Jews or Gentiles, it is the power and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:18.25). The pagans are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of God's promise, having equal access through one Spirit to the Father (Eph 2:18; 3:6).

Paul's transformed understanding comes about through his encounter with Jesus, risen from the dead, and therefore vindicated by God the Father. A light shines backwards then for Paul, across all the texts of the Old Testament, illuminating a promise that had always been there and has now been fulfilled, that in Abraham all the families of the earth are blessed (Gen 12:3). The offspring of Abraham through whom the promise is fulfilled is Christ (Gal 4:16). Salvation is from the Jews, as Jesus says to the Samaritan woman (John 4:22) but it is for all nations, as the great hymns of the Book of Revelation celebrate (e.g. Rev 5:9-10).

A-Z of Paul: Weakness

Often in our world, we might be tempted to flaunt our achievements or consider ourselves self-sufficient; in our CVs we hide our weakness and exaggerate our strengths. As "self-made men" there is certainly a hubristic tendency for us to think that we do not need God and render him 'irrelevant' to our lives. 

St Paul, however, who was by all accounts a successful missionary and preacher, knew that he was a weak and sinful human being. He uses the word astheneia, which is translated as 'weakness', extensively in his major writings. In the first place all human beings are weak and utterly dependent on God's grace. Consequently, whatever we achieve is a result of God's activity in our lives. As Paul said, "But we have this treasure [of the Gospel] in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Cor. 4:7).

The marvel of God's love is that he cherishes us and uses us despite our failings. So we need not hide our weakness before God; he does not check our CV before using us. God uses us as we are, and indeed it is because we are weak and in need of God that God's power is displayed. So, for Paul, human weakness provides the best channel for divine power. As he says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "[The Lord] said to me 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 

The ultimate sign of God working in what the world might consider weakness is Christ crucified. For it is through the weakness of the Cross that God's power of love, the power of Christ's resurrection, is displayed for all to see and transforms the world. And so, we are called to imitate the Cross of Christ in our lives, so that empowered by God, our human weakness (with all its trials and suffering) may be borne courageously and gradually transformed by grace. 

This work of grace which transforms us and shapes us according to the pattern of Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus St Paul says that "the Spirit helps us in our weakness" (Rom 8:26), and the goal of this transformation is that, having died with Christ, we might also rise with him.

Therefore, Paul's concept of weakness emphasises the power of God's grace and his transforming love. This ought to encourage us, for when we recognise our complete need of God and realise that we cannot strive for happiness apart from God, then we can serenely allow God to work in our lives, to be like clay in the hands of the divine Potter and allow God to use us "in order to make known the riches of his glory" (Rom 9:23). 

A-Z of Paul: Victory

Paul uses the term 'victory' in just one context, at the end of 1 Corinthians 15. This is a long consideration of the resurrection, responding to a number of difficulties the Corinthians were experiencing about it. One was the classic Greek difficulty about any bodily resurrection. Greek thought tended to be dualistic and to be happy with the idea of a 'spiritual' part or aspect continuing after death but not with the suggestion that bodies might be resurrected. It seemed so obvious that the flesh perished, what could restore it except something equivalent to an act of creation (precisely what Abraham and his children in faith believed about God, the One who could bring life out of death). Many people nowadays talk in the same dualistic terms about what happens after death: a 'spiritual' or even 'divine' part continues while the body perishes. Christianity teaches something much more extraordinary.

Paul's response to this difficulty is to appeal to the life he was living and the life they were living as a result of his preaching. If there is no resurrection then neither can Christ have been raised and if Christ has not been raised from the dead then the gospel is false, we are still in our sins and the preachers of the gospel are on a hiding to nothing - 'if our hope in Christ has been for this life only we are the most unfortunate of all people' (1 Corinthians 15:19). It is striking that Paul appeals already to the Church's tradition (as he does earlier, about the Eucharist): 'I taught you what I had been taught myself' (1 Corinthians 15:3; see 1 Corinthians 11:23 where he says he has received it 'from the Lord'). The best 'proof' of the resurrection, then, is the life of the Christian community. Just as the transformation of the disciples after the death of Jesus is most reasonably explained by his resurrection from the dead and his appearances to them, so the transformation of human lives in the community of love established by Christ is the most powerful witness there can be to the fact that Christ is risen and is alive.

The second difficulty troubling the Corinthians is about the nature of the resurrected body. Paul offers some thoughts about this, even though he initially dismisses it as a 'stupid question' (1 Corinthians 15:36). Just as is the case with Jesus, what needs to be kept in mind is the continuity which makes the resurrected body to be the body of this person who has died as well as the discontinuity which makes the resurrected body to be part of a radically transformed order, the perishable made imperishable, the mortal made immortal. And here is where he introduces the term 'victory', for this clothing of the perishable in imperishability and this clothing of the mortal in immortality, is the victory prophesied by Isaiah and Hosea: 'he will destroy Death forever, wipe away all tears, take away his people's shame - this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation' (Isaiah 25:7-9); 'where is your plague, Death? where are your scourges, Sheol?' (Hosea 13:14).

In a final hymn of triumph Paul offers his own interpretation of these prophecies: 'the sting or plague of death is sin, and sin gets its power from the law'. Paul had come to see that salvation from sin is not through observance of the law, which serves only to convict us of sin, but is through the faithfulness of Christ, his death on the cross, his victory. 'So let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Corinthians 15:57). Not only is it a victory achieved by God, it is a victory given to us for it is Jesus, the Son of God and our brother, who has won eternal life for us.