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Editorial - March 2009

The Year of St. Paul

March 2009

The greatest missionary in the history of the Church was the convert Saul of Tarsus who, by the grace of God, was changed from a persecutor of Jesus and his Church to the Apostle to the Gentiles. He was born of Jewish parents in Tarsus, present day Turkey, some time between 8 and 10 A.D. In order to commemorate the two thousandth anniversary of his birth, Pope Benedict XVI has dedicated to his memory the year from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009. The Pope has urged us to read his letters in the New Testament during this year, to reflect on his life, and to imitate him in his love for Christ.

St. Paul is the author of half the books in the New Testament—fourteen of them. Many modern critics doubt that he wrote some of the letters attributed to him, especially the Letter to the Hebrews. The arguments for this are taken from internal analysis of the words, many of which Paul does not use in his other letters. The argument is not fully convincing and both the tradition of the Church and the liturgy attributed Hebrews to St. Paul.

St. Paul’s first letter written was 1 Thessalonians, which was written about the year 51. It is probably the first written book in the New Testament. He was beheaded under the Emperor Nero around 66 or 67, so the rest of his letters were written during that sixteen-year period.

Because of Paul’s vision of Christ on the road to Damascus, he was given the grace to inflame his mind and heart with love for Christ crucified and risen from the dead. From that point on he was a changed man. That is clear from his letters, and especially from the Acts of the Apostles, more than half of which is about Paul and his three missionary journeys. St. Luke the Evangelist was an eye witness of much of his work and recorded it for us.

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The Magisterium: A Precious Gift

Without an authority able to teach divine truth unerringly, we could never be sure we correctly understood divine revelation.

by John Young

The Magisterium is one of God’s greatest gifts to his Church. For without an authority able to teach divine truth unerringly, we could never be sure we correctly understood divine revelation. History confirms this, showing the variety of interpretations of God’s word through the ages, even in the most essential matters. Which is not surprising, since we can’t even understand human things without error; and divine things, by definition, must be more difficult still.

Turning to Scripture we find Christ commanding the eleven to make disciples of all nations—“teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”(1) That this includes preserving his Church from error is clear from the emphasis he places on the importance of truth, assuring us that “the truth will make you free,” (2) and even identifying himself with truth itself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (3) To Pilate he said, “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.” (4) St Paul describes the Church as “the pillar and bulwark of the truth.” (5)

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Evangelization and Truth

The Christian spirit has always been animated by a passion to lead all humanity to Christ in the Church.

By James V. Schall

“Today, however, with ever-increasing frequency, questions are being raised about the legitimacy of presenting to others—so that they might in turn accept it—that which is held to be true for oneself. Often this is seen as an infringement on other people’s freedom. Such a vision of human freedom, separated from its integral reference to truth, is one of the expressions ‘of that relativism which, recognizing nothing as definitive, leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self with its desires and under the semblance of freedom, becomes a prison for each one.’”

—William Cardinal Levada, “On Some Aspects of Evangelization,” #4. [1]

“The loving providence of God determined that in the last days he would aid the world, set on its course to destruction. He ordered that all nations should be saved in Christ.” [2]
—Pope St. Leo the Great, †A.D. 461, Epiphany Sermon.

“The Christian spirit has always been animated by a passion to lead all humanity to Christ in the Church. The incorporation of new members into the Church is not the expansion of a power-group, but rather entrance into the network of friendship with Christ which connects heaven and earth, different continents and ages.” —“On Some Aspects of Evangelization,” #9.

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Humanae Vitae at Forty

Humanae Vitae not only contains the truth about the right ordering of the marital act but it has much to teach us about the right ordering of society.

By Robert J. Batule

Moral issues are always being influenced by cultural patterns. And the Church’s official teaching is always being understood through cultural filters. Contraception and Humanae Vitae are no exceptions to these two general maxims. In this article, I want to suggest how a major cultural trend has shaped the way we look at the marital act and how Pope Paul VI’s encyclical holds two aspects of morality together: the personal and the social.

For decades now, we have watched social problems escalate and we have failed to consider that there might be a relationship between these social problems and contraception. We have sought explanations for these social problems by looking at poverty, race, education and a host of other factors—including the structure of the family. All the while, we have sidestepped any consideration of decisions about the sexual act itself. I am going to suggest in this paper that Paul VI’s encyclical not only contains the truth about the right ordering of the sexual act but that it has much to teach us about the right ordering of society.

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Challenges to Preaching Paul

St. Paul is a role model for the preacher because he exemplified faith, passion and utility in his letters.

by Michael F. Hull

Preaching Paul is no mean feat. The Pauline literature in the Lectionary includes the thirteen disparate letters bearing Paul’s name, as well as Hebrews.(1) To be sure, Paul’s letters are, at one and the same time, some of the most pastorally sensitive and theologically profound writings in the New Testament. There is no doubt that they present a richness of theological insight, which ought to be expounded from the pulpit for the benefit of the people of God.(2)

In order to speak about challenges to preaching Paul, my departure point is a definition of preaching by Brad R. Braxton, an African-American Baptist minister, who teaches homiletics at Vanderbilt Divinity School. In his book Preaching Paul, Braxton says: “Preaching is the faithful, passionate reporting of God’s useful news.”(3) Braxton’s definition is very helpful because it focuses on three challenges in preaching: the challenge to be faithful, the challenge to be passionate and the challenge to be useful. On one level, these challenges transcend Paul’s preaching and our own preaching of Paul, inasmuch as these three challenges are immediately present in all preaching, either from the Old or New Testament. Yet on another level, they are particularly poignant because they are conspicuous in Paul’s letters.(4)

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