Papal doc
The continuing legacy of St Paul
3 February 2009
Concluding our catechesis on Saint Paul today, we look briefly at the end of his earthly life and his ongoing legacy. Though there is no account of Paul’s death in the New Testament, a strong tradition holds that he was martyred in Rome during the reign of Nero and buried along the Via Ostiense on…
Pastoral Epistles: Letters to Timothy and Titus
27 January 2009
In our catechesis on the writings of Saint Paul, we come now to the Pastoral Epistles, the two Letters addressed to Timothy and the one to Titus. Although their authorship remains debated, these three Letters, while subsequent to the central years of Paul’s life and activity, clearly appeal to his authority and draw from his…
Colossians and Ephesians
13 January 2009
Continuing our catechesis on Saint Paul, we turn to the “twin” letters: Colossians and Ephesians. Similar in language, they are unique in developing the theme of Christ as “head” – kephalé – not only of the Church, but also of the entire universe. These letters assure us that Christ is above any hostile earthly power. Christ…
True Worship
6 January 2009
At the beginning of this New Year, I offer all of you my cordial good wishes! In the coming months, may our minds and hearts be opened ever more fully to Christ, following the example of Saint Paul, whose life and doctrine we have been considering during this Pauline Year. Today we turn to the…
The Church’s Sacramental life
9 December 2008
As we continue our catechesis on the writings of Saint Paul, I wish today to consider some of the ways in which this great Apostle contributes to our understanding of the Church’s sacramental life. Baptism, he explains, is a sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ. We die to sin, and we rise with…
Adam and Christ
2 December 2008
The Apostle’s teaching on the relation between Adam and Christ In our continuing catechesis on Saint Paul, we now consider the Apostle’s teaching on the relation between Adam, the first man, and Christ, the second Adam (cf. 1 Cor 15:22.45; Rom 5:12-21). Paul’s teaching on the sin of Adam and its disastrous consequences for the…
Faith and works
25 November 2008
In our continuing catechesis on Saint Paul, we now consider his teaching on faith and works in the process of our justification. Paul insists that we are justified by faith in Christ, and not by any merit of our own. Yet he also emphasises the relationship between faith and those works which are the fruit…
Paul of Tarsus
22 November 2008
We have concluded our reflections on the Twelve Apostles, called directly by Jesus during his earthly life. Today, we begin to examine the figures of other important early Church personalities. They also spent their lives for the Lord, the Gospel and the Church. They are men and also women who, as Luke writes in the…
The question of justification
18 November 2008
On the journey we are making under St Paul’s guidance, let us now reflect on a topic at the centre of the controversies of the century of the Reformation: the question of justification. How does man become just in God’s eyes? When Paul met the Risen One on the road to Damascus he was an…
On the last things
11 November 2008
The subject of the Resurrection on which we reflected last week unfolds a new perspective, that of the expectation of the Lord’s return. It thus brings us to ponder on the relationship among the present time, the time of the Church and of the Kingdom of Christ, and the future (éschaton) that lies in store…
The centrality of the Resurrection
4 November 2008
“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… and you are still in your sins” (1 Cor 15: 14-17). With these strong words from the First Letter to the Corinthians, St Paul makes clear the decisive importance he attributes to the Resurrection of Jesus. In…
A gospel of grace
28 October 2008
In the personal experience of St Paul there is an incontrovertible factor: while he was at first a persecutor and perpetrated violence against Christians, from the moment of his conversion on the road to Damascus he switched to the side of the Crucified Christ, making Christ his raison d’être and the reason for his preaching….
The Christology of Paul
21 October 2008
In the Catecheses of these past weeks we have meditated on St Paul’s “conversion”, the result of his personal encounter with the crucified and Risen Jesus, and we asked ourselves what relationship the Apostle to the Gentiles had with the earthly Jesus. Today I would like to speak of the teaching that St Paul bequeathed…
St Paul and the Church
14 October 2008
In last Wednesday’s Catechesis I spoke of Paul’s relationship with the pre-Paschal Jesus in his earthly life. The question was: “What did Paul know about Jesus’ life, his words, his Passion?”. Today I would like to speak about St Paul’s teaching on the Church. We must start by noting that this word “Chiesa” in Italian as in French “Église”…
St Paul and Jesus
7 October 2008
In the last Catecheses on St Paul, I spoke of his encounter with the Risen Christ that profoundly changed his life and then of his relationship with the Twelve Apostles called by Jesus – especially his relationship with James, Cephas and John – and of his relationship with the Church in Jerusalem. The question remains…
Paul’s relationship with the Twelve
30 September 2008
Paul’s relationship with the Twelve was always one of respect and veneration that did not fail when he defended the truth of the Gospel, which is nothing if not Jesus Christ, the Lord. Let us reflect today on two episodes that show the veneration and at the same time the freedom with which the Apostle…
Paul’s relationship with the Church and the other Apostles
23 September 2008
Today I would like to speak about the relationship between St Paul and the Apostles who had preceded him in following Jesus. These relations were always marked by profound respect and that frankness in Paul that stemmed from defending the truth of the Gospel. Although he was virtually a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth, he…
St Paul’s view of what it means to be an apostle of Jesus Christ
10 September 2008
Last week I spoke of the great turning point in St Paul’s life after his encounter with the Risen Christ. Jesus entered his life and transformed him from persecutor to Apostle. That meeting marked the start of his mission; Paul could not continue to live as he did before, he now felt that the Lord…
St Paul’s Conversion
3 September 2008
St Paul’s Conversion Today’s Catechesis is dedicated to the experience that Paul had on his way to Damascus, and therefore on what is commonly known as his conversion. It was precisely on the road to Damascus, at the beginning of the 30s in the first century and after a period in which he had persecuted…
The Life of St Paul
27 August 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the last Catechesis before the holidays – two months ago, at the beginning of July – I began a new series of topics on the occasion of the Pauline Year, examining the world in which St Paul lived. Today I would like to resume and continue the reflection on the…
The Environment of St Paul
2 July 2008
The Environment in which St Paul lived and worked Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I would like to begin a new cycle of Catecheses focusing on the great Apostle St Paul. As you know, this year is dedicated to him, from the liturgical Feast of Sts Peter and Paul on 29 June 2008 to the…