St. Paul assures Christ’s call to holiness
By Deacon Louis S. Malfara
Special to The CS&T
St. Paul is considered one of the Church’s greatest evangelists. We have much to gain from someone who was tireless in building the Kingdom of God. Perhaps we can get a glimpse of how God can work in our lives just as He did in St. Paul’s life. Having persecuted Christians with an uncommon zeal, even being complicit in the murder of St. Stephen, Christ literally “knocked St. Paul off his horse.” He redirected his path in such a dramatic way that he became a missionary, a great pastoral leader and a theologian.
Pope John XXIII prayed for a new Pentecost. Many believe that his prayer was answered by three movements within the Church in 1970s and 1980s: Marriage Encounter, Cursillo, and Catholic Charismatic Renewal (there may be more, but these are the ones I was involved with).
Many people who entered this widespread spiritual current became “workers in the Vineyard,” volunteering in their parishes. But more importantly, they took this missionary spirit to their families and into the workplace. Bolstered by daily prayer, Scriptures came alive and the Mass took on new meaning. Like St. Paul they were “touched,” and some, like me, were even “knocked off our horses.”
Pope John Paul II, before his death, also called for a “new evangelization,” where the Spirit of Pentecost would blow strongly again through the Church, reversing the worldwide trend of spiritual apathy and secularism.
At the center of St. Paul’s conversion was his relationship with Jesus Christ. It was Christ who found him. It was Christ who saved him. It was Christ who sustained him. And so holiness, a deep and abiding relationship with Christ, and missionary zeal for service to others go hand in hand. So too with us: it is Christ who finds us, and this is never truer than when we are lost.
Recently, after conducting a baptism liturgy in church and after everyone had gone home, two young men who had attended the ceremony were standing beside a pew looking at the altar. They approached me, saying, “Deacon Lou, we seem to be rooted here. We don’t want to leave church. What’s happening to us?” I could only smile because I knew that Christ was touching their hearts. Perhaps Christ was knocking them off their horses. But why would Christ pick just these two?
He wasn’t just selecting these two. St. Paul tells us that everyone is called to holiness. The baptism ceremony was simply the perfect opportunity for the Spirit to touch these two. In my experience as a minister of Baptism, many have been surprised by the Spirit’s action during this liturgy. I don’t know what happened to these two young men, but one thing is certain, they will never be the same.
After St. Paul experienced the presence of Christ, he was compelled to preach the Gospel: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16) The burning in his heart was overwhelming, and his blindness gave way to the clear sightedness of faith.
This present age seems to be experiencing a great spiritual dryness. We are in need of St. Paul’s faith as well as his passionate concern for others. He gives us hope that the Spirit is real and active in our lives. He assures us that Christ is inviting everyone to a deep and abiding relationship, and this holiness is compelling enough to transform our lives. With eyes of faith we too can see little signs and wonders of the power of the Spirit. It gives us hope. St. Paul is most definitely a man who is relevant for our time.
Permanent deacon Louis Malfara is director of parish ministry at St. William Parish in Northeast Philadelphia.