January 21, 2009
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Breaking Open the Word By James Cavanagh Jan. 25: Conversion of St. Paul feast Scripture readings: Overview: The feast of the conversion of St. Paul marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. At the start of the Year of St. Paul six months ago, Pope Benedict XVI designated a chapel in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls as a place of prayer for all Christians. This was done as a gesture of ecumenical good will and an expression of the importance that the Catholic Church accords Christian unity. In our first reading, Paul recalls his conversion on the road to Damascus, where Jesus identified himself with the Church. In our second reading, the apostle reminds us that “the form of this world is passing away.” The lack of unity among Christians is a distressing fact of living in a fallen world damaged by sin. This world, fraught with so much discord and division, however, will pass away, and the unity that Christ prayed for will be realized (Jn 17:22-23). When that day comes, however, it will be God’s doing, not ours. Finally, in our Gospel reading Jesus tells the apostles to “proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” By virtue of her catholicity, the Church has been sent “to every creature.” The Church is missionary by her very nature, and been so from the very start. Key verse: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). “Catechism of the Catholic Church”: “The Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race: All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God’s will may be fulfilled” (No. 831). Pope Benedict XVI: “In the search for the inner features of St. Paul I would like to recall the words that the Risen Christ addressed to him on the road to Damascus. In persecuting the Church, Paul was persecuting Jesus himself. ‘You persecute me.’ Jesus identifies with the Church in a single subject. This exclamation of the Risen One, which transformed Saul’s life, in summary already contains the entire doctrine on the Church as the Body of Christ” (Homily, June 28, 2008). Application: One of the marks of the Church is her oneness, just as we say in the creed. Another mark is her catholicity. The unity of the Church is based on that fact that Christ is one and cannot be divided. Jesus’ identification of himself with the Church on the road to Damascus testifies to the explicit and irrevocable unity between Christ and his Church. The missionary impulse stems from the Church’s catholicity. The Church, “in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men” (No. 849). |
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