|
Quik-Click
Guide
Overview of the Conference
Conference Agenda
About the Presenter
Year of St. Paul
St. Paul's Conversion
Prayer for the Year of St. Paul
Resources for the Year of St. Paul
More
Resources for the Year of St. Paul
For
More Information
"May the teaching and example of St. Paul, a
great and
humble Apostle and a migrant, an evangelizer of peoples
and cultures, spur us to understand that the exercise of
charity is the culmination and synthesis of the whole of
Christian life....
[L]et us not tire of proclaiming and
witnessing to this 'Good News' with enthusiasm, without
fear, and sparing no energy!"
-- Pope Benedict XVI,
Message for 2009 World Refugee and Migrant Day.
The Catholic Parishes in Waterloo present
St. Paul for
Our
Times
A Conference to Celebrate
the
Year of St.
Paul
• • •
Special Guest Presenter
Rev. Jay Harrington O.P.
Friday, November 14, 2008
• 7:00-9:00pm
Saturday, November 15, 2008 • 9:00am-Noon
Church Hall, St. Edward Parish Waterloo
(Freewill Offering)
• • •
Conference Overview
This conference
will examine Paul's unlikely conversion to Christian faith, his
unique role as the "Apostle to the Gentiles," and his special
relevance for Christians living in the twenty-first century. Participants will come
away with a deeper appreciation of Paul's letters, a greater
insight into his personality and spirituality, and a deeper
desire to imitate him as he imitated Christ.
Conference
Agenda
The
two sessions will cover different perspectives on Paul, but it
is not necessary to attend both sessions.
Friday, November
14
"Paul--Called by the Grace of God"
"Called to Conversion--St. Paul's and Our
Own"
"Paul's Understanding of Christ"
Saturday,
November 15
"No Longer I Who Live, But Christ Who Lives
in Me."
"Pastoral Ministry According to Paul"
"Suffering--Revealing the Power of God"
"The Ministry of Reconciliation--Forgiving our Hurts"
(Discussion/Questions and Answers)
About the Presenter
Fr. Jay Harrington is a native of St. Edward Parish and a
Dominican friar of the Central Province of St. Albert the
Great. He is a scripture scholar who has taught at St.
Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis,
the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and
Loyola University in New Orleans. He is currently Regent of
Studies for the Dominicans' Central Province and Prior of St. Dominic Priory
in Denver. He also serves as Special Assistant in the
Office of Liturgy for the Archdiocese of Denver.
Fr. Harrington has presented material for this conference in
various venues this year, including a conference for the
Archdiocese of Denver’s celebration of the Year of St. Paul and
a retreat for priests from the Archdiocese of Dubuque last
summer.
In an interview with the Denver Register, Fr. Harrington
noted that Paul was "a most unlikely convert" who "underwent a
dramatic conversion." He said some aspects of Paul's letters
"show that he could be rough and ruffled feathers in certain
pastoral circumstances," but he did so "because he realized how
much was at stake--people's salvation," Fr. Harrington
commented.
The Year of
St. Paul
Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the period from June 28, 2008 to
June 29, 2009 "the Year of St. Paul" in the Catholic Church. He
urged Catholics to observe the jubilee with special liturgies,
conferences and pilgrimages which highlight Paul's special role
both historically and today.
"Not only do we ask ourselves, 'Who was Paul?'" Pope Benedict
announced at the inauguration of the Pauline Year. "Above all,
we ask ourselves 'Who is Paul?' 'What is he saying to me?'"
"Teacher of the Gentiles, apostle and herald of Jesus
Christ.... Paul wants to speak with us today," the Pope
observed.
The
Conversion of Paul
From Pope Benedict XVI's
Wednesday Catechesis, September 3, 2008
"…[T]wo sources, the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of St
Paul, converge and agree on the fundamental point: the Risen One
spoke to Paul, called him to the apostolate and made him a true
Apostle, a witness of the Resurrection, with the specific task
of proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles, to the Greco-Roman
world.
"And at the same time, Paul learned that despite the
immediacy of his relationship with the Risen One, he had to
enter into communion with the Church, he himself had to be
baptized, he had to live in harmony with the other Apostles.
Only in such communion with everyone could he have been a true
apostle, as he wrote explicitly in the First Letter to the
Corinthians: 'Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so
you believed' (15: 11). There is only one proclamation of the
Risen One, because Christ is only one.
"…This turning point in his life, this transformation of his
whole being was not the fruit of a psychological process, of a
maturation or intellectual and moral development. Rather it came
from the outside: it was not the fruit of his thought but of his
encounter with Jesus Christ. In this sense it was not simply a
conversion,…but rather a death and a resurrection for Paul
himself. One existence died and another, new one was born with
the Risen Christ….
"[T]his powerful encounter with Christ, is the
key to understanding what had happened: death and resurrection,
renewal on the part of the One who had shown himself and had
spoken to him. In this deeper sense we can and we must speak of
conversion. This encounter is a real renewal that changed all
his parameters. Now he could say that what had been essential
and fundamental for him earlier had become "refuse" for him; it
was no longer "gain" but loss, because henceforth the only thing
that counted for him was life in Christ.
"Nevertheless we must not think that Paul was thus closed in a
blind event. The contrary is true because the Risen Christ is
the light of truth, the light of God himself. This expanded his
heart and made it open to all. At this moment he did not lose
all that was good and true in his life, in his heritage, but he
understood wisdom, truth, the depth of the law and of the
prophets in a new way and in a new way made them his own. At the
same time, his reasoning was open to pagan wisdom. Being open to
Christ with all his heart, he had become capable of an ample
dialogue with everyone, he had become capable of making himself
everything to everyone. Thus he could truly be the Apostle to
the Gentiles.
"…[L]et
us ask what this means for us. It means that for us too
Christianity is not a new philosophy or a new morality. We are
only Christians if we encounter Christ. Of course, he does not
show himself to us in this overwhelming, luminous way, as he did
to Paul to make him the Apostle to all peoples. But we too can
encounter Christ in reading Sacred Scripture, in prayer, in the
liturgical life of the Church. We can touch Christ's Heart and
feel him touching ours. Only in this personal relationship with
Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we truly
become Christians. And in this way our reason opens, all
Christ's wisdom opens as do all the riches of truth.
"Therefore let us pray the Lord to illumine us, to grant us an
encounter with his presence in our world, and thus to grant us a
lively faith, an open heart and great love for all, which is
capable of renewing the world."
Prayer for the Year of
St. Paul
Glorious St. Paul,
most zealous Apostle,
and martyr for the love of Christ,
Give us a deep faith,
a steadfast hope,
and a burning love for our Lord.
So that we can proclaim with you,
"It is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me."
Help us to become apostles
serving the Church with a pure heart,
and Witnesses to her truth and beauty
amidst the darkness of our days.
With you we praise God our Father,
"To him be the glory
in the Church and in Christ,
now and forever." Amen.
[Provided by the Papal
Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls]
Online
Resources for the Year of St. Paul
Official
Vatican Website
Papal Basilica
of St.
Paul Outside the Walls
Pope Benedict’s Wednesday Catechesis on St. Paul
U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for
Divine Worship
Archdiocese of Dubuque
Special Graces for the Year of St. Paul
Click here for more Resources for
the Year of St. Paul
• • •
For more information contact:
Director of Adult Faith Formation
320 Mulberry Street, Waterloo IA 50703
Phone: 319-234-9912
Email: <DBQ208s3@arch.pvt.k12.ia.us>
Posted 10.10.08
• Last Update
10.20.08
|