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.
Conversion isn’t just a patch job, it’s total transformation
By Deacon Louis S. Malfara
Special to The CS&T
For many years, the cement front steps, the sidewalk and the landing in front of my house were in constant disrepair. Every spring I got my patching cement and trowel and fixed all the little areas that had eroded throughout the winter months.
One of my sons, who worked part-time for a landscaper said, “Dad, why don’t we renovate your front once and for all? It’s becoming an unsightly mess.” I replied, “What do you have in mind?” His plan was to get his six brothers and sisters together for a weekend, and with the help of his boss, a professional landscaper, they would “EP Henry” the entire front.
The completed project is now 10 years old and I still marvel at its transformation. It’s in this sense that I understand the conversion of St. Paul. When St. Paul experienced his startling vision of Christ, he was transformed into the person that Christ wanted him to become. Christ didn’t just patch him up here and there on the surface of things. Christ touched the very center of his being. St. Paul would never to be the same.
What is this conversion? The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes conversion as a reorientation or a radical turning toward God. St. Paul was now facing in a new direction. But he was not just turned toward God, he was also moving toward him.
With great wisdom the Church teaches that “Christ’s call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians,” and that “conversion is the uninterrupted task for the whole Church.” The change in St. Paul was a work in progress during his entire life. It required St. Paul’s cooperation and it took a great deal of effort. The wine of Christ’s presence needed new wine skins because the old could not contain the new.
It is the same way with us when we let Christ begin to work in us. St. Paul describes it this way, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). It is the work of grace.
So often we are afraid to change and this fear blocks God’s healing touch within us. Admittedly, the prospect of change can be threatening. But St. Paul’s personality did not change. He was still the same person, but just a better version of himself. He was now able to recognize his sinfulness and to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with the God who loved him so much.
By St. Paul’s conversion, Christ convinces us that we too can be transformed into Christ’s vision for us — if we want it. We do not have to settle for patches here and there that just barely keep us going at an arm’s length from God.
We don’t need an EP Henry catalogue to be transformed. All we need to do is say “yes” to Christ.
Permanent deacon Louis Malfara is director of parish ministry at St. William Parish in Philadelphia.