Our brother St. Paul speaks to our parish in the liturgy this weekend, saying "I urge you brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God... do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:1-2)."This saint of God is speaking directly to us in the Holy Spirit. This man of God is pleading with us, to recognize that we are called to be men and women of God, that we are being called to accept the invitation of the Lord Jesus, to live in His light and reflect His light for the sake of others. St. Paul prays for us, that we may be renewed in spirit.
How are we seeking a spiritual renewal as disciples of Jesus, within our families? Within our parish family? In this Year of St. Paul, one sure fire spiritual discipline would be to learn more about this extraordinary man of God. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has asked the whole Church to discover anew the power of this man from Tarsus, this apostle to the world.
As a part of the renewal of mind and heart that we seek, I would suggest this, to everyone reading this column: for the next ten months (until the feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul on 29 June 2009), every parishioner at St. John Neumann read the letters of St. Paul. Let's do this: let us begin our ten-month project by first reading the Acts of the Apostles, written by the author of the Gospel of Luke. The "Acts" will allow you to get a feel for the beginning of the Church, when the few disciples of the Crucified and Risen Lord experienced the power of the Spirit and began to grow as a movement.
After you have read this first century telling of the beginning of the world-wide Catholic Church, then begin to read the letters of St. Paul. I would suggest the following order, in reading the letters of our brother Paul during these next ten months: (1) read his letters to the Thessalonians, then his letters to the Corinthians; (2) then read the great letter to the Romans; (3) after reading Romans, read the letters to Timothy and Titus; (4) then read the "Pauline" letters of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians; finally, finish out the ten month discipline by reading Philemon and Hebrews.
Set up some kind of schedule for this spiritual discipline, for this ten-month study of St. Paul... either for yourself (if living alone) or with your spouse or with your spouse and the children. In setting a schedule…in being a good steward or manager of your time… and in giving some of that time to this spiritual discipline …you'll find how easy it will be to read the whole corpus of St. Paul's letters. In seeking to follow the invitation of Pope Benedict in this Year of St. Paul, to get to know this apostle of the gentiles, we will further the goal of our parish family, to be renewed in mind and heart.
In our personal prayer and study, in our liturgical prayer, in our catechesis and on-going formation, in our fellowship, in our service and in our evangelization, you and I are called to follow the Lord Jesus, as He invites us to reform your lives, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Mathew 4.17). To live the life of the Lord Jesus is to discover who we are meant to be. To live the life of the Lord Jesus together... this is what makes us a family.
AMDG
Msgr. David Talley
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