Paul

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Paul

Corinthian   Letter

Accordance    Resurrection   Scripture

Preach So You Believe

Word

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:   1 Corinthians 15:10 and 11

However, by God's grace I am what I am. 

This grace has not been ineffective.

I have worked harder than all the other apostles.

It is not I.

It is the power of God's grace within me.

Whether it is I who preached or the other apostles, we preached and so you believed.

Reflection

Did you ever wonder what St. Paul was really like?

We think of him as an extraordinary apostle who endured tremendous difficulties and obstacles in spreading the faith. He never gave up.

This passage from First Corinthians gives us a little glimpse into the man. He is honest in admitting his limitations. He knows that he is not perfect. He initially persecuted Christians.

God's grace led him to embrace Jesus and to devote his life to following Him completely. He held nothing back.

He did not claim any credit for this. He had experienced the power of the resurrection. On his way to Damascus, he encountered Jesus. 

He had lived his life in accordance with the scriptures. Gradually he saw Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecies that were contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. He realized that Jesus had to suffer to redeem His people. 

He saw that the suffering and death of Jesus was not the end of the story. Jesus had risen and He was seen by many witnesses. 

This personal experience of the resurrection that Paul and the other apostles beheld with their own eyes led them to preach and to share with others the message of Jesus, the Good News. It was this preaching and the grace that was poured out from it that led so many to believe.

They believed because of the power of the Word. These were not just human words (although the message was expressed in those words). It was the power of God's grace working in the hearts and the minds of the believers.

They saw in the life of Paul his witness to the Word. He lived in harmony with that Word and dedicated his whole life to letting others know how much and how deeply God cares for them.

We have heard that Word. It has been shared with us by all those who are successors of St. Paul and who have also been touched with God's grace.

Now is our time to live the Word as Paul did. 

1. What is your image of St. Paul?

2. How do you overcome the temptation to give up?

3. Do your limitations inhibit you from proclaiming the Word of God?

4. When have you experienced the power of the resurrection in your life?

5. What do you see as you contemplate Kathy's photo of the painting of St. Paul?

(Scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John J. McNamara)