Fr Arockia Dhas Rayappan –
While I prayed the Midmorning Prayer on the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle, I glanced at the verses from the scriptural reading: “I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus, our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.” (1 Timothy 1.12-13) I intended to proceed further as I do every day. But I had an impromptu jerk. Or let me put this way: the verse pulled me towards it. Later in the evening, I set aside some quality time to ponder silently and meditatively on this Pauline passage. Then it just dawned on me that these verses contain a Pauline spiritual treasure – the concise gist of Saint Paul’s whole life – from being a blasphemer to becoming apostle of the gentiles. This Pauline spiritual patrimony has been strengthening innumerable followers of Christianity to experience God’s mercy and to receive God’s call to begin a life of service and ministry abounding in humility, availability, generosity, and receptivity to God’s plan through communitarian discernment. Saint Paul himself wanted to explain the change God effected in his life. He presents himself as the example of graced existence. Let me now indicate the spiritual implication of the Pauline attitudes of honesty, simplicity, humility – abounding in gratitude.
At this time, an insight, so spontaneous, woke me from my spiritual ruggedness that it is not only Saint Paul, but I also was mercifully treated in my life. Moved by the Spirit, I realized that I was in a similar place as the author of the First Letter to Timothy was. This enabled me to further realize that God in his kindness has been treating me mercifully all through my childhood, boyhood, seminary formation, student life, and priestly ministry. It is not only just me but also there are others, so numerous, who experience God’s mercy in their lives. In fact, the Catholic Church has many exemplary saints, i.e., Saint Peter – First Pope, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, and Saint Devasahayam Pillai – First Lay Martyr from India, who have been mercifully treated by God. Pope Francis says that holiness comes from recognizing and sharing God’s love.
Saint Paul writes genuinely, “I have been mercifully treated.” What a magnanimous and humble heart Saint Paul was blessed with. Wasn’t he super humble here? For his humility and honesty, he deserves our appreciation. Rightly so, Christians intercede through him: Saint Paul of Tarsus, Pray for us!
Who is this Saint Paul? Saul aka Paul hailed from Tarsus in Asia Minor. (Acts 21.39) He received some of his education from Gamaliel (Acts 22.3) who was a highly respected rabbi in Jerusalem. (Acts 5.34) Joining the Pharisaic movement, Saint Paul defended vigorously his ancestral traditions, and persecuted the early Church. (Galatians 1.13, 23; Philippians 3.6) On the way to Damascus where he wanted to arrest those “who belonged to the Way,” (Acts 9.2) he had a vision of Lord Jesus Christ that changed his life and turned him into the apostle to the gentiles. (Romans 1.5; 1 Corinthians 9.1) This experience is interpreted in 1 Timothy 1.12-14 as an act of God’s mercy. The experience of having encountered Jesus Christ and of being saved by him leads to thankfulness. (1 Timothy 1.12) He displays in his letter the qualities of genuineness, honesty, humility and gratitude, missionary zeal, and availability for the ministry – the hall mark of a genuinely repentant sinner. Paul had God-experience in Christ Jesus Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit, who is ever alive, in accordance with the Catholic Spirituality and experienced God’s mercy in his very life and person. His humility is on a display in his letter to the Church (people of God) in the city of Corinth: “I am the least of the apostles; in fact because I persecuted the church of God, I do not even deserve the name. But by God’s favour I am what I am.” (1 Corinthains 15.9-10) Two concepts of grace and salvation permeate the Holy Bible. The example of the reception of grace of God and the salvation mentioned in 1 Timothy 1.13 totally and completely resonates with Paul’s own life and experience.
Having experienced God’s mercy, Saint Paul offers his life for God’s ministry as he writes in the letter: “I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry.” (1 Timothy 1.12) We celebrate his feast with that of Saint Peter Apostle on the 29th of June. His presence is very much felt in The Acts and the thirteen New Testament Letters which are either written by him or attributed to his authorship. He is called an Apostle because he had seen the Risen Lord who called him for his ministry. (Acts 9.1-22; 22. 3-16)
Here are some spiritual thoughts for your reflection, meditation, and examination of conscience: Would you own up your own realization that you are treated mercifully by God? How many of us would do so? What hinders us from acknowledging it before our friends, family members and other well-wishers in life? Is it our ego, people’s opinion, pre-conceived opinion of ourselves, and criticism that prevents us from revealing God’s merciful and forgiving love in our lives? If that is so, how could we expect our friends to let us know that they too were treated mercifully by God? Do I reveal the merciful face of God in my life? Do I take for granted that I am mercifully treated by God? In what ways, could I proclaim my experience of God’s mercy in my personal life and in my family?
Friends, we too can have Saint Paul’s experience of being mercifully treated in our lives. In his letter, Saint Paul also acknowledges the weaknesses in him. He boldly declares without hesitation that he experienced God’s genuine mercy in his very life though he had his own personal failures. Your sharing of being graced despite your failures and sin can encourage someone to take a first step to receive God’s merciful love; someone to start attending Sunday Mass regularly; or, to read and meditate on the Holy Bible again; and someone to draw inspiration from the lives of saints who turned a new leaf after their God experience.
In conclusion, I propose the following prayer for each of us: Lord, you are full of goodness and mercy. Today as we humbly acknowledge how you treated Saint Paul mercifully. “… Help us to make our way towards you by following in his footsteps, and by witnessing to your truth before the women and men of our day. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.” Amen.
The author is a priest of Delhi Archdiocese, and Ph.D. student at Concordia University, Canada. Please visit the weblink of Concordia Library Spectrum Research Repository for more details, please click here; His Orchid ID. His most cherished quotations are: “Inspiring and effective leaders are made not born – and it can take a lot of hard work to develop the skills and know-how to do this.” “Our life’s trials often reveal our capacity for empathy and kindness.” “A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.”