A Jubilee Year for St. Paul

Beginning June 28, 2008 (Vigil of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul) to June 29, 2009 (Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul), a Jubilee Year to the Apostle Paul has been called forth by Pope Benedict XVI. The church throughout the world has been called and challenged to take a closer look at this great saint and his gift to evangelize so many people.

To lead us into this Jubilee Year, we will be offering these intercessions that connect St. Paul with our life in 2008. We hope this provides a fitting prelude to the year-long celebration of St. Paul.
Fr. Jim

Glorious Saint Paul
When you were shipwrecked in Malta, you were bitten by a poisonous snake, yet you suffered no harm—help me to be free from fear even before those things that terrify me the most.

During your two-year imprisonment in Rome you preached the reign of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—help me to realize that every situation of my life is an opportunity to witness to my faith, to love Jesus Christ, and to glorify God.

When you begged the Lord to remove the thorn in your flesh, you accepted that Christ’s grace was
enough for you—help me always to rely on the grace of Christ and not on my own resources, especially when my trials seem oppressive.

Closing Prayer
Loving Father, from time immemorial you designated the apostle Paul to know your will, to look upon the Just One, and to hear the sound of his voice. Paul’s love for your Son was beyond all telling. For Christ emptied himself and took the form of a slave, obediently accepting even death on a cross.

Paul followed Jesus in this path of humility and total self-giving. Help me to imitate Paul as Paul imitated Christ. May my life, in all that I think, say, and do, proclaim to your eternal glory that Jesus
Christ is Lord.

Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, June 29, 2008:

A Jubilee Yea r for St. Paul
Today’s feast of Sts. Peter and Paul marks the beginning of the Jubilee Year Celebration for St. Paul. For the next nine weekends we will take a meditative look at St. Paul’s life in a variety of ways. Each reflection concludes with a prayer. We hope these reflections throughout the summer provide a good way to relax and enjoy one of Christianity’s greatest convert, St. Paul.

Paul, A Devout Jew Saul (Paul’s Hebrew name) was truly gifted by God in many ways.
With reason, he took pride in his studies of the Law under Gamaliel, a great teacher of the time, and in the traditions of his ancestors. He fulfilled his duties as a devout Jew and could stand before God a righteous man. But when God revealed Christ Jesus, his Son, to Paul, Paul’s world was turned upside down. No longer could he cling to his former knowledge and values: now only Christ Jesus and faith in him had any value.

LET US PRAY
Saint Paul, help us to put aside whatever may stand in the way of our embracing

July 6, 2008

Paul, the Convert
Paul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus initiated a radical transformation of his life. What he believed to be a justified mission—the persecution of believers in Jesus of Nazareth— crumbled under the gaze and words of the same Jesus: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Faced with truth, Paul allowed the Lord to lead him out of his blindness into new light.

LET US PRAY
Saint Paul, help us to have the courage to allow God’s light into those areas of our lives that need to be transformed.