Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 441

I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry.
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.
Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Scripture scholars agree that Saint Paul did not write the "pastoral letters" to Saints Timothy and Titus; but they were written by a disciple and probably after the Apostle's death. They were not written in bad faith but by one who knew the mind of the great missionary and could speak with his authority. If the actual author is unknown, the letters are nonetheless canonical and treasured. 

If the difference is important, it is simply that the man we encounter in the letters of Saint Paul was not given to overstating the guilt or shame of his past. Blasphemer, persecutor and arrogant describe Saint Luke's description of the fire-breathing man on his way to Damascus. They describe the spirit of many Pharisees, both Jewish and Christian of that day and ours. And we can add Muslim. 

There is something unfortunate in the religious traditions of Abraham which gives license to strong opinions, harsh judgement, and unwarranted aggression. We encounter it in our Christian history with the word heretic. At one time the accusation was used to justify arrest, torture, and execution of those with unorthodox opinions. 

Karen Armstrong, in her book The Battle for God, A History of Fundamentalism, describes how that unfortunate spirit manifests itself in the three religions. Today it is worst among Muslims, dangerous among Jews, and mild but nonetheless wrong among Christians. Since her book appeared in 2000, it seems to have jumped the tracks and now appears as conspirituality and Q-Anon patriotism.

As disciples of Saint Paul, we do well to follow his path. Contrary to our liturgical tradition, he never called his life-changing incident a conversion, but a revelation. He had been acting in darkness until the light broke upon him. He immediately abandoned his course of action and his former associates to be baptized into Jesus Christ. He never resorted to violence again, nor did he call for it. But he suffered much violence at the hands of gentiles and Jews, and harassment from some Christians. He actually boasted of these trials because they resembled the suffering of Christ. 

And he boasted of how God had used him despite his weakness, failures, sicknesses, shipwrecks, and innumerable catastrophes. He just kept going, and he knew that was not his doing. Indeed the grace of God was abundant in his ministry. And his disciples -- even to our day -- are grateful.