I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me. I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:19-20
At first it may seem a bit odd that the focus is on Saint Paul during this holiest of weeks leading to the Resurrection. However, to talk of the Saints is to talk of Jesus, for their lives point to him, showing how all is grace and flows from the Heart of our Saviour. Saint Paul’s life is a classic example of this divine grace animating us. That, and I happen to be endlessly fascinated by him.
Saint Paul came on my map shortly before Pope Benedict XVI announced the Year of St. Paul in 2008. That worked out wonderfully because with that year announced there suddenly became a whole host of books and other stuff readily available about Paul and I devoured as much as I could. By the end I had a whole new appreciation of who Paul was and a debt I owed him for increasing my faith and love of Jesus.
Paul has his critics, but I no longer care what they think of him for I have found a man worthy of paying attention to. When you try to pin down who Saint Paul is, to me, he’s both elusive and forthright, but what matters in the end though is that he ‘got it.’ He understood who this Jesus of Nazareth was and, as the first Christian theologian, he starts unwrapping him so we too can come to see who the Risen one is and why we must die to self and live a life in Christ.
To tie Paul in to being a focus for looking at Jesus during Holy Week I am pulling from three parallels Cardinal Martini, SJ used in his book The Gospel According to St. Paul. I hope that by looking at these Gospel passages it will help you to see the depths of Jesus’ love and the extent Paul was willing to go to in his life to make this known to all. May Paul continue to speak to us today.
Christ’s arrest and Paul’s arrest:
Jesus - Luke 22: 47-53, John 18:1-14
Paul - Acts 21:30-35
Christ before the Sanhedrin and Pilate. Paul before the Sanhedrin, and Festus and King Agrippa:
Jesus - Matthew 26:57-68, Mark 14:53-65
Paul - Acts 23:1-11, Acts 25:1-27
Physical and emotional suffering of Christ and Paul:
Jesus - Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 27:46, Mark 8:12, Luke 22:39-46
Paul - 2 Timothy 4:9-18, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33
Lastly Paul’s absolute insistence on the Resurrection additionally makes for a great lead in to Easter. Paul never tires of preaching about Jesus, but as you see through his letters, he makes it clear over and over again that he is talking of a crucified and risen Jesus. Because Christ is alive we can have a life in Him. When Easter comes read the letters of Saint Paul and let the Risen Jesus live in you also.
If you would rather listen to some thoughts on Saint Paul and the mission of the Church click the Word on Fire link below. It's different in tone than the above, but lovely nonetheless.